Adaptive block level bit-depth prediction

ABSTRACT

A decoder may receive, from a bitstream for a block, an indication of a first bit depth, a residual block of samples of the first bit depth, and a prediction parameter. The decoder may receive, from the bitstream for a sequence, an indication of a second bit depth. The decoder may determine a first decoded block of samples of the first bit depth based on the first bit depth, the residual block of samples of the first bit depth, and the prediction parameter. The decoder may determine a second decoded block of samples of the second bit depth based on the first decoded block of samples of the first bit depth.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 63/132,268, filed Dec. 30, 2020, which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Examples of several of the various embodiments of the present disclosure are described herein with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 illustrates an exemplary video coding/decoding system in which embodiments of the present disclosure may be implemented.

FIG. 2 illustrates an exemplary encoder in which embodiments of the present disclosure may be implemented.

FIG. 3 illustrates an exemplary decoder in which embodiments of the present disclosure may be implemented.

FIG. 4 illustrates an example quadtree partitioning of a coding tree block (CTB) in accordance with embodiments of the present disclosure.

FIG. 5 illustrates a corresponding quadtree of the example quadtree partitioning of the CTB in FIG. 4 in accordance with embodiments of the present disclosure.

FIG. 6 illustrates example binary and ternary tree partitions in accordance with embodiments of the present disclosure.

FIG. 7 illustrates an example quadtree+multi-type tree partitioning of a CTB in accordance with embodiments of the present disclosure.

FIG. 8 illustrates a corresponding quadtree+multi-type tree of the example quadtree+multi-type tree partitioning of the CTB in FIG. 7 in accordance with embodiments of the present disclosure.

FIG. 9 illustrates an example set of reference samples determined for intra prediction of a current block being encoded or decoded in accordance with embodiments of the present disclosure.

FIG. 10A illustrates the 35 intra prediction modes supported by HEVC in accordance with embodiments of the present disclosure.

FIG. 10B illustrates the 67 intra prediction modes supported by HEVC in accordance with embodiments of the present disclosure.

FIG. 11 illustrates the current block and reference samples from FIG. 9 in a two-dimensional x, y plane in accordance with embodiments of the present disclosure.

FIG. 12 illustrates an example angular mode prediction of the current block from FIG. 9 in accordance with embodiments of the present disclosure.

FIG. 13A illustrates an example of inter prediction performed for a current block in a current picture being encoded in accordance with embodiments of the present disclosure.

FIG. 13B illustrates an example horizontal component and vertical component of a motion vector in accordance with embodiments of the present disclosure.

FIG. 14 illustrates an example of bi-prediction, performed for a current block in accordance with embodiments of the present disclosure.

FIG. 15A illustrates an example location of five spatial candidate neighboring blocks relative to a current block being coded in accordance with embodiments of the present disclosure.

FIG. 15B illustrates an example location of two temporal, co-located blocks relative to a current block being coded in accordance with embodiments of the present disclosure.

FIG. 16 illustrates an example of IBC applied for screen content in accordance with embodiments of the present disclosure.

FIG. 17 illustrates an exemplary encoder with a separate bit depth determination unit in accordance with embodiments of the present disclosure.

FIG. 18 illustrates an example of a separate bit depth determination process of an exemplary encoder in accordance with embodiments of the present disclosure.

FIG. 19 illustrates an exemplary encoder with an integrated bit depth determination unit with prediction process in accordance with embodiments of the present disclosure.

FIG. 20 illustrates an example of an integrated bit depth determination unit in accordance with embodiments of the present disclosure.

FIG. 21 illustrates an example of a comparator unit in accordance with embodiments of the present disclosure.

FIG. 22 illustrates an exemplary decoder with a bit depth conversion unit in accordance with embodiments of the present disclosure.

FIG. 23 illustrates an example of a bit depth conversion process in accordance with embodiments of the present disclosure.

FIG. 24 illustrates an exemplary decoder with a bit depth conversion unit in accordance with embodiments of the present disclosure.

FIG. 25 illustrates an example of a bit depth conversion process in accordance with embodiments of the present disclosure.

FIG. 26 illustrates a block diagram of an example computer system in which embodiments of the present disclosure may be implemented.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

In the following description, numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of the disclosure. However, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that the disclosure, including structures, systems, and methods, may be practiced without these specific details. The description and representation herein are the common means used by those experienced or skilled in the art to most effectively convey the substance of their work to others skilled in the art. In other instances, well-known methods, procedures, components, and circuitry have not been described in detail to avoid unnecessarily obscuring aspects of the disclosure.

References in the specification to “one embodiment,” “an embodiment,” “an example embodiment,” etc., indicate that the embodiment described may include a particular feature, structure, or characteristic, but every embodiment may not necessarily include the particular feature, structure, or characteristic. Moreover, such phrases are not necessarily referring to the same embodiment. Further, when a particular feature, structure, or characteristic is described in connection with an embodiment, it is submitted that it is within the knowledge of one skilled in the art to affect such feature, structure, or characteristic in connection with other embodiments whether or not explicitly described.

Also, it is noted that individual embodiments may be described as a process which is depicted as a flowchart, a flow diagram, a data flow diagram, a structure diagram, or a block diagram. Although a flowchart may describe the operations as a sequential process, many of the operations can be performed in parallel or concurrently. In addition, the order of the operations may be re-arranged. A process is terminated when its operations are completed, but could have additional steps not included in a figure. A process may correspond to a method, a function, a procedure, a subroutine, a subprogram, etc. When a process corresponds to a function, its termination can correspond to a return of the function to the calling function or the main function.

The term “computer-readable medium” includes, but is not limited to, portable or non-portable storage devices, optical storage devices, and various other mediums capable of storing, containing, or carrying instruction(s) and/or data. A computer-readable medium may include a non-transitory medium in which data can be stored and that does not include carrier waves and/or transitory electronic signals propagating wirelessly or over wired connections. Examples of a non-transitory medium may include, but are not limited to, a magnetic disk or tape, optical storage media such as compact disk (CD) or digital versatile disk (DVD), flash memory, memory or memory devices. A computer-readable medium may have stored thereon code and/or machine-executable instructions that may represent a procedure, a function, a subprogram, a program, a routine, a subroutine, a module, a software package, a class, or any combination of instructions, data structures, or program statements. A code segment may be coupled to another code segment or a hardware circuit by passing and/or receiving information, data, arguments, parameters, or memory contents. Information, arguments, parameters, data, etc. may be passed, forwarded, or transmitted via any suitable means including memory sharing, message passing, token passing, network transmission, or the like.

Furthermore, embodiments may be implemented by hardware, software, firmware, middleware, microcode, hardware description languages, or any combination thereof. When implemented in software, firmware, middleware or microcode, the program code or code segments to perform the necessary tasks (e.g., a computer-program product) may be stored in a computer-readable or machine-readable medium. A processor(s) may perform the necessary tasks.

Representing a video sequence in digital form may require a large number of bits. The data size of a video sequence in digital form may be too large for storage and/or transmission in many applications. Video encoding may be used to compress the size of a video sequence to provide for more efficient storage and/or transmission. Video decoding may be used to decompress a compressed video sequence for display and/or other forms of consumption.

FIG. 1 illustrates an exemplary video coding/decoding system 100 in which embodiments of the present disclosure may be implemented. Video coding/decoding system 100 comprises a source device 102, a transmission medium 104, and a destination device 106. Source device 102 encodes a video sequence 108 into a bitstream 110 for more efficient storage and/or transmission. Source device 102 may store and/or transmit bitstream 110 to destination device 106 via transmission medium 104. Destination device 106 decodes bitstream 110 to display video sequence 108. Destination device 106 may receive encoded bit stream 110 from source device 102 via transmission medium 104. Source device 102 and destination device 106 may be any one of a number of different devices, including a desktop computer, laptop computer, tablet computer, smart phone, wearable device, television, camera, video gaming console, set-top box, or video streaming device.

To encode video sequence 108 into bitstream 110, source device 102 may comprise a video source 112, an encoder 114, and an output interface 116. Video source 112 may provide or generate video sequence 108 from a capture of a natural scene and/or a synthetically generated scene. A synthetically generated scene may be a scene comprising computer generated graphics or screen content. Video source 112 may comprise a video capture device (e.g., a video camera), a video archive comprising previously captured natural scenes and/or synthetically generated scenes, a video feed interface to receive captured natural scenes and/or synthetically generated scenes from a video content provider, and/or a processor to generate synthetic scenes.

A shown in FIG. 1 , a video sequence, such as video sequence 108, may comprise a series of pictures (also referred to as frames). A video sequence may achieve the impression of motion when a constant or variable time is used to successively present pictures of the video sequence. A picture may comprise one or more sample arrays of intensity values. The intensity values may be taken at a series of regularly spaced locations within a picture. A color picture typically comprises a luminance sample array and two chrominance sample arrays. The luminance sample array may comprise intensity values representing the brightness (or luma component, Y) of a picture. The chrominance sample arrays may comprise intensity values that respectively represent the blue and red components of a picture (or chroma components, Cb and Cr) separate from the brightness. Other color picture sample arrays are possible based on different color schemes (e.g., an RGB color scheme). For color pictures, a pixel may refer to all three intensity values for a given location in the three sample arrays used to represent color pictures. A monochrome picture comprises a single, luminance sample array. For monochrome pictures, a pixel may refer to the intensity value at a given location in the single, luminance sample array used to represent monochrome pictures.

Encoder 114 may encode video sequence 108 into bitstream 110. To encode video sequence 108, encoder 114 may apply one or more prediction techniques to reduce redundant information in video sequence 108. Redundant information is information that may be predicted at a decoder and therefore may not be needed to be transmitted to the decoder for accurate decoding of the video sequence. For example, encoder 114 may apply spatial prediction (e.g., intra-frame or intra prediction), temporal prediction (e.g., inter-frame prediction or inter prediction), inter-layer prediction, and/or other prediction techniques to reduce redundant information in video sequence 108. Before applying the one or more prediction techniques, encoder 114 may partition pictures of video sequence 108 into rectangular regions referred to as blocks. Encoder 114 may then encode a block using one or more of the prediction techniques.

For temporal prediction, encoder 114 may search for a block similar to the block being encoded in another picture (also referred to as a reference picture) of video sequence 108. The block determined during the search (also referred to as a prediction block) may then be used to predict the block being encoded. For spatial prediction, encoder 114 may form a prediction block based on data from reconstructed neighboring samples of the block to be encoded within the same picture of video sequence 108. A reconstructed sample refers to a sample that was encoded and then decoded. Encoder 114 may determine a prediction error (also referred to as a residual) based on the difference between a block being encoded and a prediction block. The prediction error may represent non-redundant information that may be transmitted to a decoder for accurate decoding of a video sequence.

Encoder 114 may apply a transform to the prediction error (e.g. a discrete cosine transform (DCT)) to generate transform coefficients. Encoder 114 may form bitstream 110 based on the transform coefficients and other information used to determine prediction blocks (e.g., prediction types, motion vectors, and prediction modes). In some examples, encoder 114 may perform one or more of quantization and entropy coding of the transform coefficients and/or the other information used to determine prediction blocks before forming bitstream 110 to further reduce the number of bits needed to store and/or transmit video sequence 108.

Output interface 116 may be configured to write and/or store bitstream 110 onto transmission medium 104 for transmission to destination device 106. In addition or alternatively, output interface 116 may be configured to transmit, upload, and/or stream bitstream 110 to destination device 106 via transmission medium 104. Output interface 116 may comprise a wired and/or wireless transmitter configured to transmit, upload, and/or stream bitstream 110 according to one or more proprietary and/or standardized communication protocols, such as Digital Video Broadcasting (DVB) standards, Advanced Television Systems Committee (ATSC) standards, Integrated Services Digital Broadcasting (ISDB) standards, Data Over Cable Service Interface Specification (DOCSIS) standards, 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) standards, Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) standards, Internet Protocol (IP) standards, and Wireless Application Protocol (WAP) standards.

Transmission medium 104 may comprise a wireless, wired, and/or computer readable medium. For example, transmission medium 104 may comprise one or more wires, cables, air interfaces, optical discs, flash memory, and/or magnetic memory. In addition or alternatively, transmission medium 104 may comprise one more networks (e.g., the Internet) or file servers configured to store and/or transmit encoded video data.

To decode bitstream 110 into video sequence 108 for display, destination device 106 may comprise an input interface 118, a decoder 120, and a video display 122. Input interface 118 may be configured to read bitstream 110 stored on transmission medium 104 by source device 102. In addition or alternatively, input interface 118 may be configured to receive, download, and/or stream bitstream 110 from source device 102 via transmission medium 104. Input interface 118 may comprise a wired and/or wireless receiver configured to receive, download, and/or stream bitstream 110 according to one or more proprietary and/or standardized communication protocols, such as those mentioned above.

Decoder 120 may decode video sequence 108 from encoded bit stream 110. To decode video sequence 108, decoder 120 may generate prediction blocks for pictures of video sequence 108 in a similar manner as encoder 114 and determine prediction errors for the blocks. Decoder 120 may generate the prediction blocks using prediction types, prediction modes, and/or motion vectors received in encoded bit stream 110 and determine the prediction errors using transform coefficients also received in encoded bit stream 110. Decoder 120 may determine the prediction errors by weighting transform basis functions using the transform coefficients. Decoder 120 may combine the prediction blocks and prediction errors to decode video sequence 108. In some examples, decoder 120 may decode a video sequence that approximates video sequence 108 due to, for example, lossy compression of video sequence 108 by encoder 114 and/or errors introduced into encoded bit stream 110 during transmission to destination device 106.

Video display 122 may display video sequence 108 to a user. Video display 122 may comprise a cathode rate tube (CRT) display, liquid crystal display (LCD), a plasma display, light emitting diode (LED) display, or any other display device suitable for displaying video sequence 108.

It should be noted that video encoding/decoding system 100 is presented by way of example and not limitation. In the example of FIG. 1 , video encoding/decoding system 100 may have other components and/or arrangements. For example, video source 112 may be external to source device 102. Similarly, video display device 122 may be external to destination device 106 or omitted altogether where video sequence is intended for consumption by a machine and/or storage device. In an example, source device 102 may further comprise a video decoder and destination device 104 may comprise a video encoder. In such an example, source device 102 may be configured to further receive an encoded bit stream from destination device 106 to support two-way video transmission between the devices.

In the example of FIG. 1 , encoder 114 and decoder 120 may operate according to any one of a number of proprietary or industry video coding standards. For example, encoder 114 and decoder 120 may operate according to one or more of International Telecommunications Union Telecommunication Standardization Sector (ITU-T) H.263, ITU-T H.264 and Moving Picture Expert Group (MPEG)-4 Visual (also known as Advanced Video Coding (AVC)), ITU-T H.265 and MPEG-H Part 2 (also known as High Efficiency Video Coding (HEVC), ITU-T H.265 and MPEG-I Part 3 (also known as Versatile Video Coding (VVC)), the WebM VP8 and VP9 codecs, and AOMedia Video 1 (AV1).

FIG. 2 illustrates an exemplary encoder 200 in which embodiments of the present disclosure may be implemented. Encoder 200 encodes a video sequence 202 into a bitstream 204 for more efficient storage and/or transmission. Encoder 200 may be implemented in video coding/decoding system 100 in FIG. 1 or in any one of a number of different devices, including a desktop computer, laptop computer, tablet computer, smart phone, wearable device, television, camera, video gaming console, set-top box, or video streaming device. Encoder 200 comprises an inter prediction unit 206, an intra prediction unit 208, combiners 210 and 212, a transform and quantization unit (TR+Q) unit 214, an inverse transform and quantization unit (iTR+iQ) 216, entropy coding unit 218, one or more filters 220, and a buffer 222.

Encoder 200 may partition the pictures of video sequence 202 into blocks and encode video sequence 202 on a block-by-block basis. Encoder 200 may perform a prediction technique on a block being encoded using either inter prediction unit 206 or intra prediction unit 208. Inter prediction unit 206 may perform inter prediction by searching for a block similar to the block being encoded in another, reconstructed picture (also referred to as a reference picture) of video sequence 202. A reconstructed picture refers to a picture that was encoded and then decoded. The block determined during the search (also referred to as a prediction block) may then be used to predict the block being encoded to remove redundant information. Inter prediction unit 206 may exploit temporal redundancy or similarities in scene content from picture to picture in video sequence 202 to determine the prediction block. For example, scene content between pictures of video sequence 202 may be similar except for differences due to motion or affine transformation of the screen content over time.

Intra prediction unit 208 may perform intra prediction by forming a prediction block based on data from reconstructed neighboring samples of the block to be encoded within the same picture of video sequence 202. A reconstructed sample refers to a sample that was encoded and then decoded. Intra prediction unit 208 may exploit spatial redundancy or similarities in scene content within a picture of video sequence 202 to determine the prediction block. For example, the texture of a region of scene content in a picture may be similar to the texture in the immediate surrounding area of the region of the scene content in the same picture.

After prediction, combiner 210 may determine a prediction error (also referred to as a residual) based on the difference between the block being encoded and the prediction block. The prediction error may represent non-redundant information that may be transmitted to a decoder for accurate decoding of a video sequence.

Transform and quantization unit 214 may transform and quantize the prediction error. Transform and quantization unit 214 may transform the prediction error into transform coefficients by applying, for example, a DCT to reduce correlated information in the prediction error. Transform and quantization unit 214 may quantize the coefficients by mapping data of the transform coefficients to a predefined set of representative values. Transform and quantization unit 214 may quantize the coefficients to reduce irrelevant information in bitstream 204. Irrelevant information is information that may be removed from the coefficients without producing visible and/or perceptible distortion in video sequence 202 after decoding.

Entropy coding unit 218 may apply one or more entropy coding methods to the quantized transform coefficients to further reduce the bit rate. For example, entropy coding unit 218 may apply context adaptive variable length coding (CAVLC), context adaptive binary arithmetic coding (CABAC), and syntax-based context-based binary arithmetic coding (SBAC). The entropy coded coefficients are packed to form bitstream 204.

Inverse transform and quantization unit 216 may inverse quantize and inverse transform the quantized transform coefficients to determine a reconstructed prediction error. Combiner 212 may combine the reconstructed prediction error with the prediction block to form a reconstructed block. Filter(s) 220 may filter the reconstructed block using, for example, a deblocking filter and/or a sample-adaptive offset (SAO) filter. Buffer 222 may store the reconstructed block for prediction of one or more other blocks in the same and/or different picture of video sequence 202.

Although not shown in FIG. 2 , encoder 200 further comprises an encoder control unit configured to control one or more of the units of encoder 200 shown in FIG. 2 . The encoder control unit may control the one or more units of encoder 200 such that bitstream 204 is generated in conformance with the requirements of any one of a number of proprietary or industry video coding standards. For example, The encoder control unit may control the one or more units of encoder 200 such that bitstream 204 is generated in conformance with one or more of ITU-T H.263, AVC, HEVC, VVC, VP8, VP9, and AV1 video coding standards.

Within the constraints of a proprietary or industry video coding standard, the encoder control unit may attempt to minimize or reduce the bitrate of bitstream 204 and maximize or increase the reconstructed video quality. For example, the encoder control unit may attempt to minimize or reduce the bitrate of bitstream 204 given a level that the reconstructed video quality may not fall below, or attempt to maximize or increase the reconstructed video quality given a level that the bit rate of bitstream 204 may not exceed. The encoder control unit may determine/control one or more of: partitioning of the pictures of video sequence 202 into blocks, whether a block is inter predicted by inter prediction unit 206 or intra predicted by intra prediction unit 208, a motion vector for inter prediction of a block, an intra prediction mode among a plurality of intra prediction modes for intra prediction of a block, filtering performed by filter(s) 220, and one or more transform types and/or quantization parameters applied by transform and quantization unit 214. The encoder control unit may determine/control the above based on how the determination/control effects a rate-distortion measure for a block or picture being encoded. The encoder control unit may determine/control the above to reduce the rate-distortion measure for a block or picture being encoded.

After being determined, the prediction type used to encode a block (intra or inter prediction), prediction information of the block (intra prediction mode if intra predicted, motion vector, etc.), and transform and quantization parameters, may be sent to entropy coding unit 218 to be further compressed to reduce the bit rate. The prediction type, prediction information, and transform and quantization parameters may be packed with the prediction error to form bitstream 204.

It should be noted that encoder 200 is presented by way of example and not limitation. In other examples, encoder 200 may have other components and/or arrangements. For example, one or more of the components shown in FIG. 2 may be optionally included in encoder 200, such as entropy coding unit 218 and filters(s) 220.

FIG. 3 illustrates an exemplary decoder 300 in which embodiments of the present disclosure may be implemented. Decoder 300 decodes a bitstream 302 into a decoded video sequence for display and/or some other form of consumption. Decoder 300 may be implemented in video coding/decoding system 100 in FIG. 1 or in any one of a number of different devices, including a desktop computer, laptop computer, tablet computer, smart phone, wearable device, television, camera, video gaming console, set-top box, or video streaming device. Decoder 300 comprises an entropy decoding unit 306, an inverse transform and quantization (iTR+iQ) unit 308, a combiner 310, one or more filters 312, a buffer 314, an inter prediction unit 316, and an intra prediction unit 318.

Although not shown in FIG. 3 , decoder 300 further comprises a decoder control unit configured to control one or more of the units of decoder 300 shown in FIG. 3 . The decoder control unit may control the one or more units of decoder 300 such that bitstream 302 is decoded in conformance with the requirements of any one of a number of proprietary or industry video coding standards. For example, The decoder control unit may control the one or more units of decoder 300 such that bitstream 302 is decoded in conformance with one or more of ITU-T H.263, AVC, HEVC, VVC, VP8, VP9, and AV1 video coding standards.

The decoder control unit may determine/control one or more of: whether a block is inter predicted by inter prediction unit 316 or intra predicted by intra prediction unit 318, a motion vector for inter prediction of a block, an intra prediction mode among a plurality of intra prediction modes for intra prediction of a block, filtering performed by filter(s) 312, and one or more inverse transform types and/or inverse quantization parameters to be applied by inverse transform and quantization unit 308. One or more of the control parameters used by the decoder control unit may be packed in bitstream 302.

Entropy decoding unit 306 may entropy decode the bitstream 302. Inverse transform and quantization unit 308 may inverse quantize and inverse transform the quantized transform coefficients to determine a decoded prediction error. Combiner 310 may combine the decoded prediction error with a prediction block to form a decoded block. The prediction block may be generated by inter prediction unit 318 or inter prediction unit 316 as described above with respect to encoder 200 in FIG. 2 . Filter(s) 312 may filter the decoded block using, for example, a deblocking filter and/or a sample-adaptive offset (SAO) filter. Buffer 314 may store the decoded block for prediction of one or more other blocks in the same and/or different picture of the video sequence in bitstream 302. Decoded video sequence 304 may be output from filter(s) 312 as shown in FIG. 3 .

It should be noted that decoder 300 is presented by way of example and not limitation. In other examples, decoder 300 may have other components and/or arrangements. For example, one or more of the components shown in FIG. 3 may be optionally included in decoder 300, such as entropy decoding unit 306 and filters(s) 312.

It should be further noted that, although not shown in FIGS. 2 and 3 , each of encoder 200 and decoder 300 may further comprise an intra block copy unit in addition to inter prediction and intra prediction units. The intra block copy unit may perform similar to an inter prediction unit but predict blocks within the same picture. For example, the intra block copy unit may exploit repeated patterns that appear in screen content. Screen content may include, for example, computer generated text, graphics, and animation.

As mentioned above, video encoding and decoding may be performed on a block-by-block basis. The process of partitioning a picture into blocks may be adaptive based on the content of the picture. For example, larger block partitions may be used in areas of a picture with higher levels of homogeneity to improve coding efficiency.

In HEVC, a picture may be partitioned into non-overlapping square blocks, referred to as coding tree blocks (CTBs), comprising samples of a sample array. A CTB may have a size of 2″×2″ samples, where n may be specified by a parameter of the encoding system. For example, n may be 4, 5, or 6. A CTB may be further partitioned by a recursive quadtree partitioning into coding blocks (CBs) of half vertical and half horizontal size. The CTB forms the root of the quadtree. A CB that is not split further as part of the recursive quadtree partitioning may be referred to as a leaf-CB of the quadtree and otherwise as a non-leaf CB of the quadtree. A CB may have a minimum size specified by a parameter of the encoding system. For example, a CB may have a minimum size of 4×4, 8×8, 16×16, 32×32, or 64×64 samples. For inter and intra prediction, a CB may be further partitioned into one or more prediction blocks (PBs) for performing inter and intra prediction. A PB may be a rectangular block of samples on which the same prediction type/mode may be applied. For transformations, a CB may be partitioned into one or more transform blocks (TBs). A TB may be a rectangular block of samples that may determine an applied transform size.

FIG. 4 illustrates an example quadtree partitioning of a CTB 400. FIG. 5 illustrates a corresponding quadtree 500 of the example quadtree partitioning of CTB 400 in FIG. 4 . As shown in FIGS. 4 and 5 , CTB 400 is first partitioned into four CBs of half vertical and half horizontal size. Three of the resulting CBs of the first level partitioning of CTB 400 are leaf-CBs. The three leaf CBs of the first level partitioning of CTB 400 are respectively labeled 7, 8, and 9 in FIGS. 4 and 5 . The non-leaf CB of the first level partitioning of CTB 400 is partitioned into four sub-CBs of half vertical and half horizontal size. Three of the resulting sub-CBs of the second level partitioning of CTB 400 are leaf CBs. The three leaf CBs of the second level partitioning of CTB 400 are respectively labeled 0, 5, and 6 in FIGS. 4 and 5 . Finally, the non-leaf CB of the second level partitioning of CTB 400 is partitioned into four leaf CBs of half vertical and half horizontal size. The four leaf CBs are respectively labeled 1, 2, 3, and 4 in FIGS. 4 and 5 .

Altogether, CTB 400 is partitioned into 10 leaf CBs respectively labeled 0-9. The resulting quadtree partitioning of CTB 400 may be scanned using a z-scan (left-to-right, top-to-bottom) to form the sequence order for encoding/decoding the CB leaf nodes. The numeric label of each CB leaf node in FIGS. 4 and 5 may correspond to the sequence order for encoding/decoding, with CB leaf node 0 encoded/decoded first and CB leaf node 9 encoded/decoded last. Although not shown in FIGS. 4 and 5 , it should be noted that each CB leaf node may comprise one or more PBs and TBs.

In VVC, a picture may be partitioned in a similar manner as in HEVC. A picture may be first partitioned into non-overlapping square CTBs. The CTBs may then be partitioned by a recursive quadtree partitioning into CBs of half vertical and half horizontal size. In VVC, a quadtree leaf node may be further partitioned by a binary tree or ternary tree partitioning into CBs of unequal sizes. FIG. 6 illustrates example binary and ternary tree partitions. A binary tree partition may divide a parent block in half in either the vertical direction 602 or horizontal direction 604. The resulting partitions may be half in size as compared to the parent block. A ternary tree partition may divide a parent block into three parts in either the vertical direction 606 or horizontal direction 608. The middle partition may be twice as large as the other two end partitions in a ternary tree partition.

Because of the addition of binary and ternary tree partitioning, in VVC the block partitioning strategy may be referred to as quadtree+multi-type tree partitioning. FIG. 7 illustrates an example quadtree+multi-type tree partitioning of a CTB 700. FIG. 8 illustrates a corresponding quadtree+multi-type tree 800 of the example quadtree+multi-type tree partitioning of CTB 700 in FIG. 7 . In both FIGS. 7 and 8 , quadtree splits are shown in solid lines and multi-type tree splits are shown in dashed lines. For ease of explanation, CTB 700 is shown with the same quadtree partitioning as CTB 400 described in FIG. 4 . Therefore, description of the quadtree partitioning of CTB 700 is omitted. The description of the additional multi-type tree partitions of CTB 700 is made relative to three leaf-CBs shown in FIG. 4 that have been further partitioned using one or more binary and ternary tree partitions. The three leaf-CBs in FIG. 4 that are shown in FIG. 7 as being further partitioned are leaf-CBs 5, 8, and 9.

Starting with leaf-CB 5 in FIG. 4 , FIG. 7 shows this leaf-CB partitioned into two CBs based on a vertical binary tree partitioning. The two resulting CBs are leaf-CBs respectively labeled 5 and 6 in FIGS. 7 and 8 . With respect to leaf-CB 8 in FIG. 4 , FIG. 7 shows this leaf-CB partitioned into three CBs based on a vertical ternary tree partition. Two of the three resulting CBs are leaf-CBs respectively labeled 9 and 14 in FIGS. 7 and 8 . The remaining, non-leaf CB is partitioned first into two CBs based on a horizontal binary tree partition, one of which is a leaf-CB labeled 10 and the other of which is further partitioned into three CBs based on a vertical ternary tree partition. The resulting three CBs are leaf-CBs respectively labeled 11, 12, and 13 in FIGS. 7 and 8 . Finally, with respect to leaf-CB 9 in FIG. 4 , FIG. 7 shows this leaf-CB partitioned into three CBs based on a horizontal ternary tree partition. Two of the three CBs are leaf-CBs respectively labeled 15 and 19 in FIGS. 7 and 8 . The remaining, non-leaf CB is partitioned into three CBs based on another horizontal ternary tree partition. The resulting three CBs are all leaf-CBs respectively labeled 16, 17, and 18 in FIGS. 7 and 8 .

Altogether, CTB 700 is partitioned into 20 leaf CBs respectively labeled 0-19. The resulting quadtree+multi-type tree partitioning of CTB 700 may be scanned using a z-scan (left-to-right, top-to-bottom) to form the sequence order for encoding/decoding the CB leaf nodes. The numeric label of each CB leaf node in FIGS. 7 and 8 may correspond to the sequence order for encoding/decoding, with CB leaf node 0 encoded/decoded first and CB leaf node 19 encoded/decoded last. Although not shown in FIGS. 7 and 8 , it should be noted that each CB leaf node may comprise one or more PBs and TBs.

In addition to specifying various blocks (e.g., CTB, CB, PB, TB), HEVC and VVC further define various units. While blocks may comprise a rectangular area of samples in a sample array, units may comprise the collocated blocks of samples from the different sample arrays (e.g., luma and chroma sample arrays) that form a picture as well as syntax elements and prediction data of the blocks. A coding tree unit (CTU) may comprise the collocated CTBs of the different sample arrays and may form a complete entity in an encoded bit stream. A coding unit (CU) may comprise the collocated CBs of the different sample arrays and syntax structures used to code the samples of the CBs. A prediction unit (PU) may comprise the collocated PBs of the different sample arrays and syntax elements used to predict the PBs. A transform unit (TU) may comprise TBs of the different samples arrays and syntax elements used to transform the TBs.

It should be noted that the term block may be used to refer to any of a CTB, CB, PB, TB, CTU, CU, PU, or TU in the context of HEVC and VVC. It should be further noted that the term block may be used to refer to similar data structures in the context of other video coding standards. For example, the term block may refer to a macroblock in AVC, a macroblock or sub-block in VP8, a superblock or sub-block in VP9, or a superblock or sub-block in AV1.

In intra prediction, samples of a block to be encoded (also referred to as the current block) may be predicted from samples of the column immediately adjacent to the left-most column of the current block and samples of the row immediately adjacent to the top-most row of the current block. The samples from the immediately adjacent column and row may be jointly referred to as reference samples. Each sample of the current block may be predicted by projecting the position of the sample in the current block in a given direction (also referred to as an intra prediction mode) to a point along the reference samples. The sample may be predicted by interpolating between the two closest reference samples of the projection point if the projection does not fall directly on a reference sample. A prediction error (also referred to as a residual) may be determined for the current block based on differences between the predicted sample values and the original sample values of the current block.

At an encoder, this process of predicting samples and determining a prediction error based on a difference between the predicted samples and original samples may be performed for a plurality of different intra prediction modes, including non-directional intra prediction modes. The encoder may select one of the plurality of intra prediction modes and its corresponding prediction error to encode the current block. The encoder may send an indication of the selected prediction mode and its corresponding prediction error to a decoder for decoding of the current block. The decoder may decode the current block by predicting the samples of the current block using the intra prediction mode indicated by the encoder and combining the predicted samples with the prediction error.

FIG. 9 illustrates an example set of reference samples 902 determined for intra prediction of a current block 904 being encoded or decoded. In FIG. 9 , current block 904 corresponds to block 3 of partitioned CTB 700 in FIG. 7 . As explained above, the numeric labels 0-19 of the blocks of partitioned CTB 700 may correspond to the sequence order for encoding/decoding the blocks and are used as such in the example of FIG. 9 .

Given current block 904 is of w×h samples in size, reference samples 902 may extend over 2w samples of the row immediately adjacent to the top-most row of current block 904, 2h samples of the column immediately adjacent to the left-most column of current block 904, and the top left neighboring corner sample to current block 904. In the example of FIG. 9 , current block 904 is square, so w=h=s. For constructing the set of reference samples 902, available samples from neighboring blocks of current block 904 may be used. Samples may not be available for constructing the set of reference samples 902 if, for example, the samples would lie outside the picture of the current block, the samples are part of a different slice of the current block (where the concept of slices are used), and/or the samples belong to blocks that have been inter coded and constrained intra prediction is indicated. When constrained intra prediction is indicated, intra prediction may not be dependent on inter predicted blocks.

In addition to the above, samples that may not be available for constructing the set of reference samples 902 include samples in blocks that have not already been encoded and reconstructed at an encoder or decoded at a decoder based on the sequence order for encoding/decoding. This restriction may allow identical prediction results to be determined at both the encoder and decoder. In FIG. 9 , samples from neighboring blocks 0, 1, and 2 may be available to construct reference samples 902 given that these blocks are encoded and reconstructed at an encoder and decoded at a decoder prior to coding of current block 904. This assumes there are no other issues, such as those mentioned above, preventing the availability of samples from neighboring blocks 0, 1, and 2. However, the portion of reference samples 902 from neighboring block 6 may not be available due to the sequence order for encoding/decoding.

Unavailable ones of reference samples 902 may be filled with available ones of reference samples 902. For example, an unavailable reference sample may be filled with a nearest available reference sample determined by moving in a clock-wise direction through reference samples 902 from the position of the unavailable reference. If no reference samples are available, reference samples 902 may be filled with the mid-value of the dynamic range of the picture being coded.

It should be noted that reference samples 902 may be filtered based on the size of current block 904 being coded and an applied intra prediction mode. It should be further noted that FIG. 9 illustrates only one exemplary determination of reference samples for intra prediction of a block. In some proprietary and industry video coding standards, reference samples may be determined in a different manner than discussed above. For example, multiple reference lines may be used in other instances, such as used in VVC.

After reference samples 902 are determined and optionally filtered, samples of current block 904 may be intra predicted based on reference samples 902. Most encoders/decoders support a plurality of intra prediction modes in accordance with one or more video coding standards. For example, HEVC supports 35 intra prediction modes, including a planar mode, a DC mode, and 33 angular modes. VVC supports 67 intra prediction modes, including a planar mode, a DC mode, and 65 angular modes. Planar and DC modes may be used to predict smooth and gradually changing regions of a picture. Angular modes may be used to predict directional structures in regions of a picture.

FIG. 10A illustrates the 35 intra prediction modes supported by HEVC. The 35 intra prediction modes are identified by indices 0 to 34. Prediction mode 0 corresponds to planar mode. Prediction mode 1 corresponds to DC mode. Prediction modes 2-34 correspond to angular modes. Prediction modes 2-18 may be referred to as horizontal prediction modes because the principal source of prediction is in the horizontal direction. Prediction modes 19-34 may be referred to as vertical prediction modes because the principal source of prediction is in the vertical direction.

FIG. 10B illustrates the 67 intra prediction modes supported by VVC. The 67 intra prediction modes are identified by indices 0 to 66. Prediction mode 0 corresponds to planar mode. Prediction mode 1 corresponds to DC mode. Prediction modes 2-66 correspond to angular modes. Prediction modes 2-34 may be referred to as horizontal prediction modes because the principal source of prediction is in the horizontal direction. Prediction modes 35-66 may be referred to as vertical prediction modes because the principal source of prediction is in the vertical direction. Because blocks in VVC may be non-square, some of the intra prediction modes illustrated in FIG. 10B may be adaptively replaced by wide-angle directions.

To further describe the application of intra prediction modes to determine a prediction of a current block, reference is made to FIGS. 11 and 12 . In FIG. 11 , current block 904 and reference samples 902 from FIG. 9 are shown in a two-dimensional x, y plane. Current block 904 is referred to as Cb, where Cb(x, y) denotes the predicted value of current block 904 at the coordinates (x, y). Reference samples 902 are referred to as r, where r(x, y) denotes the reference sample of reference samples 902 at the coordinates (x, y).

For planar mode, a sample in Cb may be predicted by calculating the mean of two interpolated values. The first of the two interpolated values may be based on a horizontal linear interpolation of the predicted sample in Cb. The second of the two interpolated values may be based on a vertical linear interpolation of the predicted sample in Cb. The predicted value of the sample in Cb may be calculated as

$\begin{matrix} {{C{b\left( {x,y} \right)}} = {\frac{1}{2 \cdot s}\left( {{h\left( {x,y} \right)} + {v\left( {x,y} \right)} + s} \right)}} & (1) \\ {where} & \; \\ {{h\left( {x,y} \right)} = {{\left( {s - x - 1} \right) \cdot {r\left( {{- 1},y} \right)}} + {\left( {x + 1} \right) \cdot {r\left( {s,{- 1}} \right)}}}} & (2) \end{matrix}$ may be the horizonal linear interpolation of the predicted sample in Cb and v(x,y)=(s−y−1)·r(x,−1)+(y+1)·r(−1,s)  (3) may be the vertical linear interpolation of the predicted sample in Cb.

For DC mode, a sample in Cb may be predicted by the mean of the reference samples. The predicted value of the sample in Cb may be calculated as

$\begin{matrix} {{C{b\left( {x,y} \right)}} = {\frac{1}{2 \cdot s} \cdot \left( {{\sum\limits_{x = 0}^{s - 1}{r\left( {x,{- 1}} \right)}} + {\sum\limits_{y = 0}^{s - 1}{r\left( {{- 1},y} \right)}}} \right)}} & (4) \end{matrix}$ A boundary filter may be applied to boundary samples in Cb to smooth the transition between the boundary samples and their respective adjacent neighboring reference sample(s) in r.

For angular modes, a sample in Cb may be predicted by projecting the position of the sample in a direction specified by a given angular mode to a point on the horizontal or vertical axis comprising the reference samples r. The sample may be predicted by interpolating between the two closest reference samples in r of the projection point if the projection does not fall directly on a reference sample in r. The direction specified by the angular mode may be given by an angle φ defined relative to the y-axis for vertical prediction modes (e.g., modes 19-34 in HEVC and modes 35-66 in VVC) and relative to the x-axis for horizontal prediction modes (e.g., modes 2-18 in HEVC and modes 2-34 in VVC).

FIG. 12 illustrates a sample in Cb predicted for a vertical prediction mode. For vertical prediction modes, the position (x, y) of the sample in Cb is projected onto the horizontal axis comprising reference samples r. Because the projection falls between two reference samples r1 and r2 in the example of FIG. 12 , the predicted value of the sample in Cb may be calculated as the linear interpolation between the two reference samples r1 and r2 as Cb(x,y)=(1−Δ)·r1+Δ·r2  (5) where r1=r(x+└(y+1)·tan φ┘,−1),  (6) r2=r(x+└(y+1)·tan φ

+1,−1),  (7) Δ=((y+1)·tan φ)−└(y+1)·tan φ┘, and  (8) └·┘ is an integer floor.  (9)

It should be noted that the weighting factors (1−Δ) and Δ may be calculated with some predefined level of precision, such as 1/32 pixel precision. To avoid floating point operations while preserving the specified precision, the weighting factors (1−Δ) and Δ may be multiplied by the reciprocal of the specified precision used and then divided by the reciprocal using, for example, right shift operations. It should be further noted that supplementary reference samples may be constructed for the case where the position (x, y) of a sample Cb to predicted is projected to a negative x coordinate, which happens with negative angles φ. The supplementary reference samples may be constructed by projecting the reference samples in r on the vertical axis to the horizontal axis using the angle φ. Finally, it should be further noted that a sample in Cb may be predicted for a horizontal prediction mode in a similar manner as discussed above for vertical prediction modes. For horizontal prediction modes, the position (x, y) of the sample in Cb may be projected onto the vertical axis comprising reference samples r and the angle φ may be defined relative to the x-axis. Supplemental reference samples may be similarly constructed for horizontal prediction modes by projecting the reference samples in r on the horizontal axis to the vertical axis using the angle φ.

An encoder may predict the samples of a current block being encoded, such as current block 904, for a plurality of intra prediction modes as explained above. For example, the encoder may predict the samples of the current block for each of the 35 intra prediction modes in HEVC or 67 intra prediction modes in VVC. For each intra prediction mode applied, the encoder may determine a prediction error for the current block based on a difference (e.g., sum of squared differences (SSD), sum of absolute differences (SAD), or sum of absolute transformed differences (SATD)) between the prediction samples determined for the intra prediction mode and the original samples of the current block. The encoder may select one of the intra prediction modes to encode the current block based on the determined prediction errors. For example, the encoder may select an intra prediction mode that results in the smallest prediction error for the current block. In an example, the encoder may select the intra prediction mode to encode the current block based on a rate-distortion measure (e.g., Lagrangian rate-distortion cost) determined using the prediction errors. The encoder may send an indication of the selected intra prediction mode and its corresponding prediction error to a decoder for decoding of the current block.

Although the description above was primarily made with respect to intra prediction modes in HEVC and VVC, it will be understood that the techniques of the present disclosure described above and further below may be applied to other intra prediction modes, including those of other video coding standards like VP8, VP9, AV1, and the like.

As explained above, intra prediction may exploit correlations between spatially neighboring samples in the same picture of a video sequence to perform video compression. Inter prediction is a coding tool that may be used to exploit correlations in the time domain between blocks of samples in different pictures of the video sequence to perform video compression. In general, an object may be seen across multiple pictures of a video sequence. The object may move (e.g., by some translation and/or affine motion) or remain stationary across the multiple pictures. A current block of samples in a current picture being encoded may therefore have a corresponding block of samples in a previously decoded picture that accurately predicts the current block of samples. The corresponding block of samples may be displaced from the current block of samples due to movement of an object, represented in both blocks, across the respective pictures of the blocks. The previously decoded picture may be referred to as a reference picture and the corresponding block of samples in the reference picture may be referred to as a reference block or motion compensated prediction. An encoder may use a block matching technique to estimate the displacement (or motion) and determine the reference block in the reference picture.

Similar to intra prediction, once a prediction for a current block is determined and/or generated using inter prediction, an encoder may determine a difference between the current block and the prediction. The difference may be referred to as a prediction error or residual. The encoder may then store and/or signal in a bitstream the prediction error and other related prediction information for decoding or other forms of consumption. A decoder may decode the current block by predicting the samples of the current block using the prediction information and combining the predicted samples with the prediction error.

FIG. 13A illustrates an example of inter prediction performed for a current block 1300 in a current picture 1302 being encoded. An encoder, such as encoder 200 in FIG. 2 , may perform inter prediction to determine and/or generate a reference block 1304 in a reference picture 1306 to predict current block 1300. Reference pictures, like reference picture 1306, are prior decoded pictures available at the encoder and decoder. Availability of a prior decoded picture may depend on whether the prior decoded picture is available in a decoded picture buffer at the time current block 1300 is being encoded or decoded. The encoder may, for example, search one or more reference pictures for a reference block that is similar to current block 1300. The encoder may determine a “best matching” reference block from the blocks tested during the searching process as reference block 1304. The encoder may determine that reference block 1304 is the best matching reference block based on one or more cost criterion, such as a rate-distortion criterion (e.g., Lagrangian rate-distortion cost). The one or more cost criterion may be based on, for example, a difference (e.g., sum of squared differences (SSD), sum of absolute differences (SAD), or sum of absolute transformed differences (SATD)) between the prediction samples of reference block 1304 and the original samples of current block 1300.

The encoder may search for reference block 1304 within a search range 1308. Search range 1308 may be positioned around the collocated position (or block) 1310 of current block 1300 in reference picture 1306. In some instances, search range 1308 may at least partially extend outside of reference picture 1306. When extending outside of reference picture 1306, constant boundary extension may be used such that the values of the samples in the row or column of reference picture 1306, immediately adjacent to the portion of search range 1308 extending outside of reference picture 1306, are used for the “sample” locations outside of reference picture 1306. All or a subset of potential positions within search range 1308 may be searched for reference block 1304. The encoder may utilize any one of a number of different search implementations to determine and/or generate reference block 1304. For example, the encoder may determine a set of a candidate search positions based on motion information of neighboring blocks to current block 1300.

One or more reference pictures may be searched by the encoder during inter prediction to determine and/or generate the best matching reference block. The reference pictures searched by the encoder may be included in one or more reference picture lists. For example, in HEVC and VVC, two reference picture lists may be used, a reference picture list 0 and a reference picture list 1. A reference picture list may include one or more pictures. Reference picture 1306 of reference block 1304 may be indicated by a reference index pointing into a reference picture list comprising reference picture 1306.

The displacement between reference block 1304 and current block 1300 may be interpreted as an estimate of the motion between reference block 1304 and current block 1300 across their respective pictures. The displacement may be represented by a motion vector 1312. For example, motion vector 1312 may be indicated by a horizontal component (MV_(x)) and a vertical component (MV_(y)) relative to the position of current block 1300. FIG. 13B illustrates the horizontal component and vertical component of motion vector 1312. A motion vector, such as motion vector 1312, may have fractional or integer resolution. A motion vector with fractional resolution may point between two samples in a reference picture to provide a better estimation of the motion of current block 1300. For example, a motion vector may have ½, ¼, ⅛, 1/16, or 1/32 fractional sample resolution. When a motion vector points to a non-integer sample value in the reference picture, interpolation between samples at integer positions may be used to generate the reference block and its corresponding samples at fractional positions. The interpolation may be performed by a filter with two or more taps.

Once reference block 1304 is determined and/or generated for current block 1300 using inter prediction, the encoder may determine a difference (e.g., a corresponding sample-by-sample difference) between reference block 1304 and current block 1300. The difference may be referred to as a prediction error or residual. The encoder may then store and/or signal in a bitstream the prediction error and the related motion information for decoding or other forms of consumption. The motion information may include motion vector 1312 and a reference index pointing into a reference picture list comprising reference picture 1306. In other instances, the motion information may include an indication of motion vector 1312 and an indication of the reference index pointing into the reference picture list comprising reference picture 1306. A decoder may decode current block 1300 by determining and/or generating reference block 1304, which forms the prediction of current block 1300, using the motion information and combining the prediction with the prediction error.

In FIG. 13A, inter prediction is performed using one reference picture 1306 as the source of the prediction for current block 1300. Because the prediction for current block 1300 comes from a single picture, this type of inter prediction is referred to as uni-prediction. FIG. 14 illustrates a type of inter prediction, referred to as bi-prediction, performed for a current block 1400. In bi-prediction, the source of the prediction for a current block 1400 comes from two pictures. Bi-prediction may be useful, for example, where the video sequence comprises fast motion, camera panning or zooming, or scene changes. Bi-prediction may also be useful to capture fade outs of one scene or fade outs from one scene to another, where two pictures are effectively displayed simultaneously with different levels of intensity.

Whether uni-prediction or both uni-prediction and bi-prediction are available for performing inter prediction may depend on a slice type of current block 1400. For P slices, only uni-prediction may be available for performing inter prediction. For B slices, either uni-prediction or bi-prediction may be used. When uni-prediction is performed, an encoder may determine and/or generate a reference block for predicting current block 1400 from reference picture list 0. When bi-prediction is performed, an encoder may determine and/or generate a first reference block for predicting current block 1400 from reference picture list 0 and determine and/or generate a second reference block for predicting current block 1400 from reference picture list 1.

In FIG. 14 , inter-prediction is performed using bi-prediction, where two reference blocks 1402 and 1404 are used to predict current block 1400. Reference block 1402 may be in a reference picture of one of reference picture list 0 or 1, and reference block 1404 may be in a reference picture of the other one of reference picture list 0 or 1. As shown in FIG. 14 , reference block 1402 is in a picture that precedes the current picture of current block 1400 in terms of picture order count (POC), and reference block 1402 is in a picture that proceeds the current picture of current block 1400 in terms of POC. In other examples, the reference pictures may both precede or proceed the current picture in terms of POC. POC is the order in which pictures are output from, for example, a decoded picture buffer and is the order in which pictures are generally intended to be displayed. However, it should be noted that pictures that are output are not necessarily displayed but may undergo different processing or consumption, such as transcoding. In other examples, the two reference blocks determined and/or generated using bi-prediction may come from the same reference picture. In such an instance, the reference picture may be included in both reference picture list 0 and reference picture list 1.

A configurable weight and offset value may be applied to the one or more inter prediction reference blocks. An encoder may enable the use of weighted prediction using a flag in a picture parameter set (PPS) and signal the weighting and offset parameters in the slice segment header for the current block. Different weight and offset parameters may be signaled for luma and chroma components.

Once reference blocks 1402 and 1404 are determined and/or generated for current block 1400 using inter prediction, the encoder may determine a difference between current block 1400 and each of reference blocks 1402 and 1404. The differences may be referred to as prediction errors or residuals. The encoder may then store and/or signal in a bitstream the prediction errors and their respective related motion information for decoding or other forms of consumption. The motion information for reference block 1402 may include motion vector 1406 and the reference index pointing into the reference picture list comprising the reference picture of reference block 1402. In other instances, the motion information for reference block 1402 may include an indication of motion vector 1406 and an indication of the reference index pointing into the reference picture list comprising reference picture 1402. The motion information for reference block 1404 may include motion vector 1408 and the reference index pointing into the reference picture list comprising the reference picture of reference block 1404. In other instances, the motion information for reference block 1404 may include an indication of motion vector 1408 and an indication of the reference index pointing into the reference picture list comprising reference picture 1404. A decoder may decode current block 1400 by determining and/or generating reference blocks 1402 and 1404, which together form the prediction of current block 1400, using their respective motion information and combining the predictions with the prediction errors.

In HEVC, VVC, and other video compression schemes, motion information may be predictively coded before being stored or signaled in a bit stream. The motion information for a current block may be predictively coded based on the motion information of neighboring blocks of the current block. In general, the motion information of the neighboring blocks is often correlated with the motion information of the current block because the motion of an object represented in the current block is often the same or similar to the motion of objects in the neighboring blocks. Two of the motion information prediction techniques in HEVC and VVC include advanced motion vector prediction (AMVP) and inter prediction block merging.

An encoder, such as encoder 200 in FIG. 2 , may code a motion vector using the AMVP tool as a difference between the motion vector of a current block being coded and a motion vector predictor (MVP). An encoder may select the MVP from a list of candidate MVPs. The candidate MVPs may come from previously decoded motion vectors of neighboring blocks in the current picture of the current block or blocks at or near the collocated position of the current block in other reference pictures. Both the encoder and decoder may generate or determine the list of candidate MVPs.

After the encoder selects an MVP from the list of candidate MVPs, the encoder may signal, in a bitstream, an indication of the selected MVP and a motion vector difference (MVD). The encoder may indicate the selected MVP in the bitstream by an index pointing into the list of candidate MVPs. The MVD may be calculated based on the difference between the motion vector of the current block and the selected MVP. For example, for a motion vector represented by a horizontal component (MV_(x)) and a vertical displacement (MV_(y)) relative to the position of the current block being coded, the MVD may be represented by two components calculated as follows: MVD _(x) =MV _(x) −MVP _(x)  (10) MVD _(y) =MV _(y) −MVP _(y)  (11) where MVD_(x) and MVD_(y) respectively represent the horizontal and vertical components of the MVD, and MVP_(x) and MVP_(y) respectively represent the horizontal and vertical components of the MVP. A decoder, such as decoder 300 in FIG. 3 , may decode the motion vector by adding the MVD to the MVP indicated in the bitstream. The decoder may then decode the current block by determining and/or generating the reference block, which forms the prediction of the current block, using the decoded motion vector and combining the prediction with the prediction error.

In HEVC and VVC, the list of candidate MVPs for AMVP may comprise two candidates referred to as candidates A and B. Candidates A and B may include up to two spatial candidate MVPs derived from five spatial neighboring blocks of the current block being coded, one temporal candidate MVP derived from two temporal, co-located blocks when both spatial candidate MVPs are not available or are identical, or zero motion vectors when the spatial, temporal, or both candidates are not available. FIG. 15A illustrates the location of the five spatial candidate neighboring blocks relative to a current block 1500 being encoded. The five spatial candidate neighboring blocks are respectively denoted A₀, A₁, B₀, B₁, and B₂. FIG. 15B illustrates the location of the two temporal, co-located blocks relative to current block 1500 being coded. The two temporal, co-located blocks are denoted C₀ and C₁ and are included in a reference picture that is different from the current picture of current block 1500.

An encoder, such as encoder 200 in FIG. 2 , may code a motion vector using the inter prediction block merging tool also referred to as merge mode. Using merge mode, the encoder may reuse the same motion information of a neighboring block for inter prediction of a current block. Because the same motion information of a neighboring block is used, no MVD needs to be signaled and the signaling overhead for signaling the motion information of the current block may be small in size. Similar to AMVP, both the encoder and decoder may generate a candidate list of motion information from neighboring blocks of the current block. The encoder may then determine to use (or inherit) the motion information of one neighboring block's motion information in the candidate list for predicting the motion information of the current block being coded. The encoder may signal, in the bit stream, an indication of the determined motion information from the candidate list. For example, the encoder may signal an index pointing into the list of candidate motion information to indicate the determined motion information.

In HEVC and VVC, the list of candidate motion information for merge mode may comprise up to four spatial merge candidates that are derived from the five spatial neighboring blocks used in AMVP as shown in FIG. 15A, one temporal merge candidate derived from two temporal, co-located blocks used in AMVP as shown in FIG. 15B, and additional merge candidates including bi-predictive candidates and zero motion vector candidates.

It should be noted that inter prediction may be performed in other ways and variants than those described above. For example, motion information prediction techniques other than AMVP and merge mode are possible. In addition, although the description above was primarily made with respect to inter prediction modes in HEVC and VVC, it will be understood that the techniques of the present disclosure described above and further below may be applied to other inter prediction modes, including those of other video coding standards like VP8, VP9, AV1, and the like. In addition, history based motion vector prediction (HMVP), combined intra/inter prediction mode (CIIP), and merge mode with motion vector difference (MMVD) as described in VVC may also be performed and are within the scope of the present disclosure.

In inter prediction, a block matching technique may be applied to determine a reference block in a different picture than the current block being encoded. Block matching techniques have also been applied to determine a reference block in the same picture as a current block being encoded. However, it has been determined that for camera-captured videos, a reference block in the same picture as the current block determined using block matching may often not accurately predict the current block. For screen content video this is generally not the case. Screen content video may include, for example, computer generated text, graphics, and animation. Within screen content, there is often repeated patterns (e.g., repeated patterns of text and graphics) within the same picture. Therefore, a block matching technique applied to determine a reference block in the same picture as a current block being encoded may provide efficient compression for screen content video.

HEVC and VVC both include a prediction technique to exploit the correlation between blocks of samples within the same picture of screen content video. This technique is referred to as intra block (IBC) or current picture referencing (CPR). Similar to inter prediction, an encoder may apply a block matching technique to determine a displacement vector (referred to as a block vector (BV)) that indicates the relative displacement from the current block to a reference block (or intra block compensated prediction) that “best matches” the current block. The encoder may determine the best matching reference block from blocks tested during a searching process similar to inter prediction. The encoder may determine that a reference block is the best matching reference block based on one or more cost criterion, such as a rate-distortion criterion (e.g., Lagrangian rate-distortion cost). The one or more cost criterion may be based on, for example, a difference (e.g., sum of squared differences (SSD), sum of absolute differences (SAD), sum of absolute transformed differences (SATD), or difference determined based on a hash function) between the prediction samples of the reference block and the original samples of the current block. A reference block may correspond to prior decoded blocks of samples of the current picture. The reference block may comprise decoded blocks of samples of the current picture prior to being processed by in-loop filtering operations, like deblocking or SAO filtering. FIG. 16 illustrates an example of IBC applied for screen content. The rectangular portions with arrows beginning at their boundaries are current blocks being encoded and the rectangular portions that the arrows point to are the reference blocks for predicting the current blocks.

Once a reference block is determined and/or generated for a current block using IBC, the encoder may determine a difference (e.g., a corresponding sample-by-sample difference) between the reference block and the current block. The difference may be referred to as a prediction error or residual. The encoder may then store and/or signal in a bitstream the prediction error and the related prediction information for decoding or other forms of consumption. The prediction information may include a BV. In other instances, the prediction information may include an indication of the BV. A decoder, such as decoder 300 in FIG. 3 , may decode the current block by determining and/or generating the reference block, which forms the prediction of the current block, using the prediction information and combining the prediction with the prediction error.

In HEVC, VVC, and other video compression schemes, a BV may be predictively coded before being stored or signaled in a bit stream. The BV for a current block may be predictively coded based on the BV of neighboring blocks of the current block. For example, an encoder may predictively code a BV using the merge mode as explained above for inter prediction or a similar technique as AMVP also explained above for inter prediction. The technique similar to AMVP may be referred to as BV prediction and difference coding.

For BV prediction and difference coding, an encoder, such as encoder 200 in FIG. 2 , may code a BV as a difference between the BV of a current block being coded and a BV predictor (BVP). An encoder may select the BVP from a list of candidate BVPs. The candidate BVPs may come from previously decoded BVs of neighboring blocks of the current block in the current picture. Both the encoder and decoder may generate or determine the list of candidate BVPs.

After the encoder selects a BVP from the list of candidate BVPs, the encoder may signal, in a bitstream, an indication of the selected BVP and a BV difference (BVD). The encoder may indicate the selected BVP in the bitstream by an index pointing into the list of candidate BVPs. The BVD may be calculated based on the difference between the BV of the current block and the selected BVP. For example, for a BV represented by a horizontal component (BV_(x)) and a vertical component (BV_(y)) relative to the position of the current block being coded, the BVD may represented by two components calculated as follows: BVD _(x) =BV _(x) −BVP _(x)  (12) BVD _(y) =BV _(y) −BVP _(y)  (13) where BVD_(x) and BVD_(y) respectively represent the horizontal and vertical components of the BVD, and BVP_(x) and BVP_(y) respectively represent the horizontal and vertical components of the BVP. A decoder, such as decoder 300 in FIG. 3 , may decode the BV by adding the BVD to the BVP indicated in the bitstream. The decoder may then decode the current block by determining and/or generating the reference block, which forms the prediction of the current block, using the decoded BV and combining the prediction with the prediction error.

In HEVC and VVC, the list of candidate BVPs may comprise two candidates referred to as candidates A and B. Candidates A and B may include up to two spatial candidate BVPs derived from five spatial neighboring blocks of the current block being encoded, or one or more of the last two coded BVs when spatial neighboring candidates are not available (e.g., because they are coded in intra or inter mode). The location of the five spatial candidate neighboring blocks relative to a current block being encoded using IBC are the same as those shown in FIG. 15A for inter prediction. The five spatial candidate neighboring blocks are respectively denoted A₀, A₁, B₀, B₁, and B₂.

High bit depth applications, such as those dealing with medical content or some output of specialized imaging sensors, typically employ 16 bits or more per sample. Video coding standards generally support the coding of input video with high bit depth (e.g., 16-bit input). For example, the HEVC standard supports a Range Extensions (RExt) version which targets video coding applications in areas including content acquisition, postproduction, contribution, distribution, archiving, medical imaging, still imaging, and screen content. HEVC RExt provides support for monochrome, 4:2:2, and 4:4:4 chroma sampling formats as well as increased sample bit depths beyond 10 bits per sample (up to 16 bits per sample). Since each sample needs more bits in high bit depth encoding (e.g., in HEVC RExt) a higher bitrate is required for these samples than the normal bit depth (e.g., 8 bits per sample).

High bit depth per sample may provide more precision than low bit depth. For example, 8 bits per luminance sample may have 256 values to represent different luminance levels (typically 0 and 255 represent darkest and brightest pixels, respectively) and 10 bits per luminance sample may have 1024 values to represent different luminance levels (typically 0 and 1023 represent darkest and brightest pixels, respectively). The precision of pixel samples (for example, luminance and chrominance samples) may cause perceptual differences in visual quality for some types of video content. For example, visible color bands (e.g., banding effect) may be observed for a video sequence with a gradient change (like sunsets, dawns, or clear blue skies) which is represented by lower bit depth (typically bit depth of 8 or below), whereas a smooth transition may be observed for the same content for higher precision of pixel samples (typically bit_depth of 10 or above). The precision of pixel samples (for example, luminance and chrominance samples) may not cause perceptual difference in visual quality for other types of video content. As an example, for a video sequence with black frames, the perceptual quality may be indistinguishable for a range of precision of pixel samples (e.g., bit depth 8 to bit depth 16).

For a video sequence (both natural and synthetic) some portion of the sequence may demand a high bit depth and for another portion of the sequence a comparatively lower bit depth might be enough. For example, if a sequence has monochrome frames (e.g., black frames) in between two natural scenes, then a lower bit depth might be sufficient for the monochrome portion, whereas a higher bit depth might be required for the natural scenes. For each frame in the video sequence, some regions may demand high bit depth and for other regions of the same frame a lower bit depth might be enough. For example, a frame (or an image) may have region with a gradient change (like sunsets, dawns, or clear blue skies), which may need a high bit depth, and another region with homogeneous texture, which may not need a high bit depth.

Coded video data may be organized into Network Abstraction Layer (NAL) units, each of which may effectively be a packet that contains an integer number of bytes. NAL units may be classified into video coding layer (VCL) and non-VCL NAL units. The VCL NAL units may contain data that represents the values of the samples in the video pictures, and the non-VCL NAL units may contain associated additional information, such as parameter sets (important header data that can apply to a large number of VCL NAL units) and supplemental enhancement information (timing information and other supplemental data that may enhance usability of the decoded video signal but are not necessary for decoding the values of the samples in the video pictures). A parameter set may contain information that is expected to rarely change and offers the decoding of many VCL NAL units. There may be two types of parameter sets: sequence parameter sets (SPS), and picture parameter sets (PPS). The SPS may apply to a series of consecutive coded video pictures called a coded video sequence and the PPS may apply to the decoding of one or more individual pictures within a coded video sequence. The sequence parameter set (SPS) is a syntax structure containing syntax elements that apply to zero or more entire coded layer video sequences (CLVS) as determined by the content of a syntax element found in the PPS referred to by a syntax element found in each picture header.

In existing technologies, bit depth of luminance and chrominance samples for a video sequence may be specified at a sequence level, such as in sequence parameter set (SPS) for an encoder. As an example, for the VVC standard, sps_bitdepth_minus8 parameter specifies the bit depth of the samples of the luminance and chrominance arrays. The corresponding bit depth (BitDepth) and the value of the luminance and chrominance quantization parameter range offset, QpBdOffset, may be determined as follows. BitDepth=8+sps_bitdepth_minus8  (14) QpBdOffset=6*sps_bitdepth_minus8  (15) The sps_bitdepth_minus8 parameter is a SPS parameter for the VVC standard, which needs to specify in the sequence parameter set raw byte sequence payload (RBSP) syntax element. The SPS parameter for a video encoder is constant throughout the input sequence. The constant bit depth throughout a video sequence may not be efficient and may create unnecessary overhead in terms of bitrate. This unnecessary bitrate overhead may reduce overall encoding compression efficiency.

Embodiments of the present disclosure are related to a method and apparatus for reducing unnecessary bitrate overhead due to constant bit depth-based encoding. Embodiments of the present disclosure may determine a block-level bit depth for a video sequence and signal the block-level bit depth for one or more of the blocks of the video sequence in a bitstream. The determination of the block-level bit depth may be content-dependent. For example, depending on the complexity of the content in a block, an effective bit depth may be selected for the block, which may improve the overall encoding compression efficiency.

FIG. 17 illustrates an exemplary encoder 1700 in which embodiments of the present disclosure may be implemented. Encoder 1700 encodes a video sequence 1702 into a bitstream 1704 for more efficient storage and/or transmission. Encoder 1700 may be implemented in video coding/decoding system 100 in FIG. 1 or any one of several different devices, including a desktop computer, laptop computer, tablet computer, smartphone, wearable device, television, camera, video gaming console, set-top box, or video streaming device. Encoder 1700 comprises an inter prediction unit 1706, an intra prediction unit 1708, combiners 1710 and 1712, a transform and quantization unit (TR+Q) unit 1714, an inverse transform and quantization unit (iTR+iQ) 1716, entropy coding unit 1718, one or more filters 1720, and a buffer 1722. After inter prediction 1706 and intra prediction 1708, a bit determination block 1724 and 1726 may be respectively incorporated in exemplary encoder 1700. The operation of one or more of the units in FIG. 17 may be the same or similar to corresponding units described above in FIG. 2 .

Encoder 1700 may partition the pictures of video sequence 1702 into blocks and encode video sequence 1702 on a block-by-block basis. Encoder 1700 may perform a prediction technique on a block being encoded using either inter prediction unit 1706 or intra prediction unit 1708. Inter prediction unit 1706 and intra prediction unit 1708 may determine a predicted block. The predicted block may be applied as an input to bit depth determination block 1724 or 1726 in exemplary encoder 1700. Bit depth determination block 1724 or 1726 may determine a bit depth for the block. For example, bit depth determination block 1724 or 1726 may determine a bit depth for the block based on encoding efficiency. For example, bit depth determination block 1724 or 1726 may determine a bit depth for the block based on a rate cost, a distortion cost, or a rate distortion cost of the block of samples.

FIG. 18 illustrates an example implementation of a bit depth determination block, such as bit depth determination blocks 1724 and 1726 of exemplary encoder 1700, in accordance with embodiments of the present disclosure. An exemplary encoder may predict a block of samples 1802 with a bit depth N using a prediction process 1804 and determine a first predicted block of samples 1806 of bit depth N. The prediction process 1804 may comprise inter prediction, intra prediction, or IBC prediction. The bit depth of the first predicted block of samples 1806 may be modified by a bit depth modification unit 1808. Bit depth modification unit 1808 may modify the bit depth of first predicted block of samples with bit depth N 1806 to generate a first predicted block of samples with a bit depth Bi 1810.

First predicted block of samples of bit depth Bi 1810 and block of samples 1802 of bit depth N may be applied as input to a comparator 1812 to determine a cost value 1816 due to bit depth modification. The cost value may be determined based on a difference between first predicted block of samples of bit depth Bi 1810 and block of samples 1802 of bit depth N. For example, cost value 1816 may be determined based on a sum of squared differences (SSD), a sum of absolute differences (SAD), sum of absolute transformed differences (SATD), and/or rate-distortion cost between block of samples of bit depth N 1802 and first predicted block of samples of bit depth Bi 1810.

The bit depth modification of first predicted block of samples 1806 performed by bit depth modification unit 1808 and the comparison process performed by comparator 1812 may be iteratively performed as part of an iterative process 1814. In iterative process 1814, bit depth modification unit 1808 may iteratively modify the bit depth of first predicted block 1806 to determine a selected bit depth M 1818 for first predicted block of samples 1806. Comparator 1812 may compare each modified bit depth Bi 1810 of first predicted block 1806, where i represents the iteration number, to block of samples of bit depth N 1802 to generate a respective cost value 1816. Bit depth modification unit 1808 may receive the respective cost values 1816 from comparator 1812 and may continue to modify the bit depth of first predicted block 1806 based on the respective cost values 1816. Selected bit depth M 1818 and bit depth N may be different. For example, selected bit depth M 1818 may be determined based on a rate distortion cost (e.g., lowest rate distortion cost) of first predicted block of samples 1810 among a set of bit depths Bi (e.g., among all possible bit depths Bi). In another example, selected bit depth M 1818 may be based on a distortion cost (e.g., determined based on a sum of squared differences (SSD), a sum of absolute differences (SAD), or a sum of absolute transformed differences (SATD)) of first predicted block of samples 1810 among a set of bit depths Bi (e.g., among all possible bit depths Bi). For example, selected bit depth M 1818 may provide a same distortion cost as first predicted block, where selected bit depth M 1818 may be the smallest bit depth among a set of bit depths Bi (e.g., among all possible bit depths Bi). In another example, selected bit depth M 1818 may be determined based on a threshold value and a distortion cost (e.g., determined based on a sum of squared differences (SSD), a sum of absolute differences (SAD), sum of absolute transformed differences (SATD)) of first predicted block of samples 1810 among a set of bit depths Bi (e.g., among all possible bit depths Bi). For example, the distance between the threshold and the distortion cost of selected bit depth M 1818 of first predicted block of samples 1810 may be the smallest among a set of bit depths Bi (e.g., among all possible bit depths Bi). An indication of selected bit depth M 1818 may be signaled in a bitstream for block 1802 for decoding or other forms of consumption. In another embodiment not shown in FIG. 18 , comparator 1812 may compare each modified bit depth Bi 1810 to first predicted block of samples 1806, as opposed to block of bit depth N, to determine respective cost values 1816.

FIG. 19 illustrates an exemplary encoder 1900 in which embodiments of the present disclosure may be implemented. Encoder 1900 encodes a video sequence 1902 into a bitstream 1904 for more efficient storage and/or transmission. Encoder 1900 may be implemented in video coding/decoding system 100 in FIG. 1 or any one of several different devices, including a desktop computer, laptop computer, tablet computer, smartphone, wearable device, television, camera, video gaming console, set-top box, or video streaming device. Encoder 1900 comprises an inter prediction unit with bit depth determination 1906, an intra prediction unit with bit depth determination 1908, combiners 1910 and 1912, a transform and quantization unit (TR+Q) unit 1914, an inverse transform and quantization unit (iTR+iQ) 1916, entropy coding unit 1918, one or more filters 1920, and a buffer 1922. The operation of one or more of the units in FIG. 19 may be the same or similar to corresponding units described above in FIG. 2 .

Encoder 1900 may partition the pictures of video sequence 1902 into blocks and encode video sequence 1902 on a block-by-block basis. Encoder 1900 may perform a prediction technique on a block being encoded using either inter or intra prediction. Both inter and intra prediction units 1906 and 1908 perform a bit depth determination process. Inter prediction unit with bit depth determination 1906 and intra prediction unit with bit depth determination 1908 may determine a selected predicted block with a selected bit depth for the block. For example, inter prediction unit with bit depth determination 1906 and intra prediction unit with bit depth determination 1908 may determine a selected bit depth for a selected predicted block based on an encoding efficiency. For example, inter prediction unit with bit depth determination 1906 and intra prediction unit with bit depth determination 1908 may determine a selected bit depth for a selected predicted block based on a rate cost, a distortion cost, or a rate distortion cost of the block of samples.

FIG. 20 illustrates an example implementation of a prediction unit 2000 with bit depth determination, such as intra prediction and inter prediction units 1906 and 1908 with bit depth determination in encoder 1900, in accordance with embodiments of the present disclosure. Prediction unit 2000 may perform inter prediction, intra prediction, or IBC prediction with a bit depth determination. A block of samples of bit depth N 2002 may be applied as an input to prediction unit 2000 and a selected first predicted block with a first selected bit depth M 2004 may be the output of prediction unit 2000. The indication of the first selected bit depth M may be signaled in a bitstream. The prediction process of bit depth determination block 2000 may comprise two or more iterative processes. Iterative process 2010 may be applied inside iterative process 2012. Prediction unit 2000 may predict a second predicted block of samples 2016 of bit depth N for block of samples 2002 of bit depth N by a prediction process 2014. Prediction process 2014 may comprise inter prediction, intra prediction, or IBC prediction. The bit depth of second predicted block of samples 2016 may be modified by a bit depth modification unit 2018. Bit depth modification unit may generate a second predicted block of samples with a bit depth Bi 2020. Second predicted block of samples of bit depth Bi 2020 and block of samples 2002 of bit depth N may be applied to a comparator 2022 to determine a cost value 2023 due to bit depth modification. The cost value 2023 may be determined as a difference between second predicted block of samples of bit depth Bi 2020 and block of samples 2002 of bit depth N. For example, cost value 2023 may be determined based on a sum of squared differences (SSD), a sum of absolute differences (SAD), sum of absolute transformed differences (SATD), and/or rate-distortion cost between block of samples of bit depth N 2002 and second predicted block of samples of bit depth Bi 2020.

The bit depth modification of second predicted block of samples 2016 and the comparison process performed by comparator 2022 may be iteratively performed as part of iterative process 2010. In iterative process 2010, bit depth modification unit 2018 may iteratively modify the bit depth of second predicted block 2016 to determine a selected bit depth (e.g., bit depth Mj) 2024 for second predicted block of samples 2016. Comparator 2022 may compare each modified bit depth Bi 1810 of second predicted block 2016, where i represents the iteration number, to block of samples 2002 of bit depth N to generate respective cost values 2023. Bit depth modification unit 2018 may receive respective cost values 2023 from comparator 2022 and may modify bit the depth of second predicted block 2016 based on respective cost values 2023. Selected bit depth Mj 2024 and bit depth N may be different. For example, selected bit depth Mj 2024 may be based on a rate distortion cost (e.g., lowest rate distortion cost) of second predicted block of samples 2016 among a set of bit depths Bi (e.g., among all possible bit depths Bi). In another example, selected bit depth Mj 2024 may be determined based on a distortion cost (e.g., sum of squared differences (SSD), a sum of absolute differences (SAD), sum of absolute transformed differences (SATD)) of second predicted block of samples 2016 among a set of bit depths Bi (e.g., among all possible bit depths Bi). For example, selected bit depth Mj 2024 may provide the same distortion cost as second predicted block, where selected bit depth Mj may be smallest among a set of bit depths Bi (e.g., among all possible bit depths Bi). In another example, selected bit depth Mj 2024 may be determined based on a threshold value and a distortion cost (e.g., sum of squared differences (SSD), a sum of absolute differences (SAD), sum of absolute transformed differences (SATD)) of second predicted block of samples 1810 among a set of bit depths Bi (e.g., among all possible bit depths Bi). For example, the distance between threshold and distortion cost of selected bit depth Mj 2024 of second predicted block of samples 1810 may be smallest among a set of bit depths Bi (e.g., among all possible bit depths Bi). An indication of selected bit depth Mj 2024 may be signaled in a bitstream for block 1802. In another embodiment not shown in FIG. 20 , comparator 2022 may compare each modified bit depth Bi 2020 to second predicted block of samples 2016, as opposed to block 2002 of bit depth N, to determine respective cost values 2023.

The prediction process 2014, iterative process 2010, and comparison process of comparator 2026 may comprise an iterative process 2012. In iterative process 2012, prediction parameters of the prediction process 2014 (e.g., prediction modes for intra prediction, a motion vector for inter prediction, block vector for IBC prediction) may be iteratively modified to determine a first predicted block with a selected bit depth M 2004. Comparator 2026 may compare each second predicted block of second selected bit depth Mj 2024, where j represents the iteration number, to the block of samples of bit depth N 2002 to generate a respective cost value. Prediction process unit 2014 may receive the cost values from comparator 2026 and may modify prediction parameter(s). M may be a first selected bit depth for the first predicted block of samples. The first selected bit depth M 2004 and the block of bit depth N 2002 may be different.

The bit depth modification unit (e.g., 1808 in FIG. 18, 2018 in FIG. 20 ) may reduce bit depth of a block of samples (e.g., 1806 in FIG. 18, 2016 in FIG. 20 ). The bit depth modification unit may down-convert the bit depth of the block of samples (e.g., 1806 in FIG. 18, 2016 in FIG. 20 ) to a lower bit depth. For example, the down-conversion may include reducing the bit depth of the block of samples (e.g., pixel values) by using any tone-mapping scheme. For example, the down-conversion may include reducing the bit depth of the block of samples (e.g., pixel values), by rounding of the sample values. For example, the down-conversion may include reducing the bit depth of the block of samples (e.g., pixel values), by clipping the sample values. For example, the down-conversion may include reducing the bit depth of the block of samples (e.g., pixel values), by sub-sampling of luminance or chrominance components. For example, the down-conversion may include reducing the bit depth of the block of samples (e.g., pixel values), by filtering the samples. For example, the down-conversion may include reducing the bit depth of the block of samples (e.g., pixel values), by any combination of different down conversion schemes. It may possible that the down-conversion process of the bit depth modification unit (e.g., 1808 in FIG. 18, 2018 in FIG. 20 ) may use different down conversion schemes for the block of samples, a video frame, or a video slice.

An exemplary comparator unit 2102 that may be used to implement comparators 2022, 2026 in FIG. 20 and comparator 1812 in FIG. 18 is illustrated in FIG. 21 in accordance with embodiments of the present disclosure. FIG. 21 illustrates the inputs of comparator unit 2102 as a block of bit depth B1 2104 and a first predicted block of bit depth B2 2106. Comparator unit 2102 may calculate a cost value 2108 (e.g., an error value) from input blocks 2104 and 2106 using a cost calculator unit 2110 at bit depth B1. Bit depth B2 of first predicted block 2106 may be converted to bit depth B1 2112 by a bit depth converter unit 2114 before cost calculator unit 2110 receives first predicted block 2106. Cost calculator unit 2110 may take first predicted block of bit depth B1 2112 and block of bit depth B1 2104 as input and may calculate a cost value 2108 (e.g., an error value). For example, cost calculator 2110 may calculate a difference (e.g., a sum of squared differences (SSD), a sum of absolute differences (SAD), and/or sum of absolute transformed differences (SATD)) between block of bit depth B1 2104 and first predicted block of bit depth B1 2112. In an example, cost calculator 2110 may calculate a rate-distortion cost between block of bit depth B1 2104 and first predicted block of bit depth B1 2112.

In HEVC, VVC, and other video coding implementations, an encoder signals information of a coded video sequence in a bitstream based on syntax structures, and a decoder extracts the information of a coded video sequence from a bitstream based on syntax structures. A syntax structure represents a logical entity of the information coded in the bitstream. These logical entities may include, for example, parameter sets, slices, and coding tree units. Within HEVC and VCC, the syntax structures are specified by syntax tables that indicate variations of the syntax structures. Syntax structures may comprise syntax elements. Syntax elements may occur as flags, values, one-dimensional arrays, or multi-dimensional arrays. For arrays, one or more indices may be used to reference a specific element within the array. The occurrence of a syntax element within a syntax structure may be conditional. For example, the occurrence of a syntax element may be conditional on the value of one or more other syntax elements or values determined during the decoding process.

The exemplary encoder (e.g., 1900 in FIG. 19, 1700 in FIG. 17 ) may signal in a bitstream, an indication of a first selected bit depth. For example, the signaling may comprise signaling, in the bitstream, the indication of the first selected bit depth using a syntax structure. Table 1 below provides an example in syntax structure of VVC encoder where the bit depth is specified for a coding unit by cu_bit_depth[x0][y0] value. In this example, the bit depth may vary for different coding units in a coding_tree and a coding unit for all blocks that have the same bit depth.

TABLE 1 Descriptor coding_unit( x0, y0, cbWidth, cbHeight, cqtDepth, treeType, modeType ) {  chType = treeType = = DUAL_TREE_CHROMA? 1 : 0  cu_bit_depth[ x0 ][ y0 ] ae(v)  if( slice_type != I | | sps_ibc_enabled_flag | | sps_palette_enabled_flag) {   if( treeType != DUAL_TREE_CHROMA &&    !( ( ( cbWidth = = 4 && cbHeight = = 4 ) | | modeType = = MODE_TYPE_INTRA )     && !sps_ibc_enabled_flag ) )     cu_skip_flag[ x0 ][ y0 ] ae(v)   if( cu_skip_flag[ x0 ][ y0 ] = = 0 && slice_type != I    && !( cbWidth = = 4 && cbHeight = = 4 ) && modeType = = MODE_TYPE_ALL )     pred_mode_flag ae(v)   if( ( ( slice_type = = I && cu_skip_flag[ x0 ][ y0 ] = =0 ) | |      ( slice_type != I && ( CuPredMode[ chType ][ x0 ][ y0 ] != MODE_INTRA | |        ( cbWidth = = 4 && cbHeight = = 4 && cu_skip_flag[ x0 ][ y0 ] = = 0 ) ) ) ) &&     cbWidth <= 64 && cbHeight <= 64 && modeType != MODE_TYPE_INTER &&     sps_ibc_enabled_flag && treeType != DUAL_TREE_CHROMA )     pred_mode_ibc_flag ae(v)   if( ( ( ( slice_type = = I | | ( cbWidth = = 4 && cbHeight = = 4 ) | | sps_ibc_enabled_flag ) &&        CuPredMode[ x0 ][ y0 ] = = MODE_INTRA ) | |      ( slice_type != I && !( cbWidth = = 4 && cbHeight = = 4 ) && !sps_ibc_enabled_flag       && CuPredMode[ x0 ][ y0 ] != MODE_INTRA ) ) && sps_palette_enabled_flag &&      cbWidth <= 64 && cbHeight <= 64 && && cu_skip_flag[ x0 ][ y0 ] = = 0 &&      modeType != MODE_INTER )     pred_mode_plt_flag ae(v)  }  if( CuPredMode[ chType ][ x0 ][ y0 ] = = MODE_INTRA | |   CuPredMode[ chType ][ x0 ][ y0 ] = = MODE_PLT ) {   if( treeType = = SINGLE_TREE | | treeType = = DUAL_TREE_LUMA ) {     if( pred_mode_plt_flag ) {       if( treeType = = DUAL_TREE_LUMA )         palette_coding( x0, y0, cbWidth, cbHeight, 0, 1 )       else /* SINGLE_TREE */         palette_coding( x0, y0, cbWidth, cbHeight, 0, 3 )     } else {       if( sps_bdpcm_enabled_flag &&         cbWidth <= MaxTsSize && cbHeight <= MaxTsSize )         intra_bdpcm_flag ae(v)       if( intra_bdpcm_flag )         intra_bdpcm_dir_flag ae(v)       else {         if( sps_mip_enabled_flag &&          ( Abs( Log2( cbWidth ) − Log2( cbHeight ) ) <= 2 ) &&           cbWidth <= MaxTbSizeY && cbHeight <= MaxTbSizeY )          intra_mip_flag[ x0 ][ y0 ] ae(v)         if( intra_mip_flag[ x0 ][ y0 ] )          intra_mip_mode[ x0 ][ y0 ] ae(v)         else {          if( sps_mrl_enabled_flag && ( ( y0 % CtbSizeY ) > 0 ) )           intra_luma_ref_idx[ x0 ][ y0 ] ae(v)          if ( sps_isp_enabled_flag && intra_luma_ref_idx[ x0 ][ y0 ] = = 0 &&           ( cbWidth <= MaxTbSizeY && cbHeight <= MaxTbSizeY ) &&           ( cbWidth * cbHeight > MinTbSizeY * MinTbSizeY ) )           intra_subpartitions_mode_flag[ x0 ][ y0 ] ae(v)          if( intra_subpartitions_mode_flag[ x0 ][ y0 ] = = 1 )           intra_subpartitions_split_flag[ x0 ][ y0 ] ae(v)          if( intra_luma_ref_idx[ x0 ][ y0 ] = = 0 )           intra_luma_mpm_flag[ x0 ][ y0 ] ae(v)          if( intra_luma_mpm_flag[ x0 ][ y0 ] ) {           if( intra_luma_ref_idx[ x0 ][ y0 ] = = 0 )            intra_luma_not_planar_flag[ x0 ][ y0 ] ae(v)           if( intra_luma_not_planar_flag[ x0 ][ y0 ] )            intra_luma_mpm_idx[ x0 ][ y0 ] ae(v)          } else           intra_luma_mpm_remainder[ x0 ][ y0 ] ae(v)         }       }     }   }   if( ( treeType = = SINGLE_TREE | | treeType = = DUAL_TREE_CHROMA ) &&       ChromaArrayType != 0 ) {     if ( pred_mode_plt_flag && treeType = = DUAL_TREE_CHROMA )       palette_coding( x0, y0, cbWidth / SubWidthC, cbHeight / SubHeightC, 1, 2 )     else {       if( CclmEnabled )         cclm_mode_flag ae(v)       if( cclm_mode_flag )         cclm_mode_idx ae(v)       else         intra_chroma_pred_mode ae(v)     }   }  } else if( treeType != DUAL_TREE_CHROMA ) { /* MODE_INTER or MODE_IBC */   if( cu_skip_flag[ x0 ][ y0 ] = = 0 )     general_merge_flag[ x0 ][ y0 ] ae(v)   if( general_merge_flag[ x0 ][ y0 ] ) {     merge_data( x0, y0, cbWidth, cbHeight, chType )   } else if ( CuPredMode[ chType ][ x0 ][ y0 ] = = MODE_IBC ) {     mvd_coding( x0, y0, 0, 0 )     if( MaxNumIbcMergeCand > 1 )       mvp_l0_flag[ x0 ][ y0 ] ae(v)     if( sps_amvr_enabled_flag &&       ( MvdL0[ x0 ][ y0 ][ 0 ] != 0 | | MvdL0[ x0 ][ y0 ][ 1 ] != 0 ) ) {       amvr_precision_idx[ x0 ][ y0 ] ae(v)     }   } else {     if( slice_type = = B )       inter_pred_idc[ x0 ][ y0 ] ae(v)     if( sps_affine_enabled_flag && cbWidth >= 16 && cbHeight >= 16 ) {       inter_affine_flag[ x0 ][ y0 ] ae(v)       if( sps_affine_type_flag && inter_affme_flag[ x0 ][ y0 ] )         cu_affine_type_flag[ x0 ][ y0 ] ae(v)     }     if( sps_smvd_enabled_flag && !mvd_l1_zero_flag &&       inter_pred_idc[ x0 ][ y0 ] = = PRED_BI &&       !inter_affine_flag[ x0 ][ y0 ] && RefIdxSymL0 > −1 && RefIdxSymL1 > − 1 )       sym_mvd_flag[ x0 ][ y0 ] ae(v)     if( inter_pred_idc[ x0 ][ y0 ] != PRED_L1 ) {       if( NumRefIdxActive[ 0 ] > 1 && !sym_mvd_flag[ x0 ][ y0 ] )         ref_idx_l0[ x0 ][ y0 ] ae(v)       mvd_coding( x0, y0, 0, 0 )       if( MotionModelIdc[ x0 ][ y0 ] > 0 )         mvd_coding( x0, y0, 0, 1 )       if(MotionModelIdc[ x0 ][ y0 ] > 1 )         mvd_coding( x0, y0, 0, 2 )       mvp_l0_flag[ x0 ][ y0 ] ae(v)     } else {       MvdL0[ x0 ][ y0 ][ 0 ] = 0       MvdL0[ x0 ][ y0 ][ 1 ] = 0     }     if( inter_pred_idc[ x0 ][ y0 ] != PRED_L0 ) {       if( NumRefIdxActive[ 1 ] > 1 && !sym_mvd_flag[ x0 ][ y0 ] )         ref_idx_l1 [ x0 ][ y0 ] ae(v)       if( mvd_l1_zero_flag && inter_pred_idc[ x0 ][ y0 ] = = PRED_BI ) {         MvdL1[ x0 ][ y0 ][ 0 ] = 0         MvdL1[ x0 ][ y0 ][ 1 ] = 0         MvdCpL1[ x0 ][ y0 ][ 0 ][ 0 ] = 0         MvdCpL1[ x0 ][ y0 ][ 0 ][ 1 ] = 0         MvdCpL1[ x0 ][ y0 ][ 1 ][ 0 ] = 0         MvdCpL1[ x0 ][ y0 ][ 1 ][ 1 ] = 0         MvdCpL1[ x0 ][ y0 ][ 2 ][ 0 ] = 0         MvdCpL1[ x0 ][ y0 ][ 2 ][ 1 ] = 0       } else {         if( sym_mvd_flag[ x0 ][ y0 ] ) {          MvdL1[ x0 ][ y0 ][ 0 ] = −MvdL0[ x0 ][ y0 ][ 0 ]          MvdL1[ x0 ][ y0 ][ 1 ] = −MvdL0[ x0 ][ y0 ][ 1 ]         } else          mvd_coding( x0, y0, 1, 0 )         if( MotionModelIdc[ x0 ][ y0 ] > 0 )          mvd_coding( x0, y0, 1, 1 )         if(MotionModelIdc[ x0 ][ y0 ] > 1 )          mvd_coding( x0, y0, 1, 2 )         mvp_l1_flag[ x0 ][ y0 ] ae(v)       }     } else {       MvdL1[ x0 ][ y0 ][ 0 ] = 0       MvdL1[ x0 ][ y0 ][ 1 ] = 0     }     if( ( sps_amvr_enabled_flag && inter_affine_flag[ x0 ][ y0 ] = = 0 &&        ( MvdL0[ x0 ][ y0 ][ 0 ] != 0 | | MvdL0[ x0 ][ y0 ][ 1 ] != 0 | |         MvdL1[ x0 ][ y0][ 0 ] != 0 | | MvdL1[ x0 ][ y0 ][ 1 ] != 0 ) ) | |       ( sps_affine_amvr_enabled_flag && (inter_affine_flag[ x0 ][ y0 ] = = 1) &&        ( MvdCpL0[ x0 ][ y0 ][ 0 ] [ 0 ] != 0 | | MvdCpL0[ x0 ][ y0 ][ 0 ] [ 1 ] != 0 | |         MvdCpL1[ x0 ][ y0 ][ 0 ] [ 0 ] != 0 | | MvdCpL1[ x0 ][ y0 ][ 0 ] [ 1 ] != 0 | |         MvdCpL0[ x0 ][ y0 ][ 1 ] [ 0 ] != 0 | | MvdCpL0[ x0 ][ y0 ][ 1 ] [ 1 ] != 0 | |         MvdCpL1[ x0 ][ y0 ][ 1 ] [ 0 ] != 0 | | MvdCpL1[ x0 ][ y0 ][ 1 ] [ 1 ] != 0 | |         MvdCpL0[ x0 ][ y0 ][ 2 ] [ 0 ] != 0 | | MvdCpL0[ x0 ][ y0 ][ 2 ] [ 1 ] != 0 | |         MvdCpL1[ x0 ][ y0 ][ 2 ] [ 0 ] != 0 | | MvdCpL1[ x0 ][ y0 ][ 2 ] [ 1 ] != 0 ) ) {       amvr_flag[ x0 ][ y0 ] ae(v)       if( amvr_flag[ x0 ][ y0 ] )         amvr_precision_idx[ x0 ][ y0 ] ae(v)     }      if( sps_bcw_enabled_flag && inter_pred_idc[ x0 ][ y0 ] = = PRED_BI &&        luma_weight_l0_flag[ ref_idx_l0 [ x0 ][ y0 ] ] = = 0 &&        luma_weight_l1_flag[ ref_idx_l1 [ x0 ][ y0 ] ] = = 0 &&        chroma_weight_l0_flag[ ref_idx_l0 [ x0 ][ y0 ] ] = = 0 &&        chroma_weight_l1_flag[ ref_idx_l1 [ x0 ][ y0 ] ] = = 0 &&        cbWidth * cbHeight >= 256 )       bcw_idx[ x0 ][ y0 ] ae(v)   }  }  if( CuPredMode[ chType ][ x0 ][ y0 ] != MODE_INTRA && !pred_mode_plt_flag &&   general_merge_flag[ x0 ][ y0 ] = = 0 )   cu_cbf ae(v)  if( cu_cbf ) {   if( CuPredMode[ chType ][ x0 ][ y0 ] = = MODE_INTER && sps_sbt_enabled_flag      && !ciip_flag[ x0 ][ y0 ] && !MergeTriangleFlag[ x0 ][ y0 ] ) {     if( cbWidth <= MaxSbtSize && cbHeight <= MaxSbtSize ) {       allowSbtVerH = cbWidth >= 8       allowSbtVerQ = cbWidth >= 16       allowSbtHorH = cbHeight >= 8       allowSbtHorQ = cbHeight >=16       if( allowSbtVerH | | allowSbtHorH | | allowSbtVerQ | | allowSbtHorQ )         cu_sbt_flag ae(v)     }     if( cu_sbt_flag ) {       if( ( allowSbtVerH | | allowSbtHorH ) && ( allowSbtVerQ | | allowSbtHorQ ) )         cu_sbt_quad_flag ae(v)       if( ( cu_sbt_quad_flag && allowSbtVerQ && allowSbtHorQ ) | |         ( !cu_sbt_quad_flag && allowSbtVerH && allowSbtHorH ) )         cu_sbt_horizontal_flag ae(v)       cu_sbt_pos_flag ae(v)     }   }   LfnstDcOnly = 1   LfnstZeroOutSigCoeffFlag = 1   transform_tree( x0, y0, cbWidth, cbHeight, treeType )   lfnstWidth = ( treeType = = DUAL_TREE_CHROMA ) ? cbWidth / SubWidthC             : cbWidth   lfnstHeight = ( treeType = = DUAL_TREE_CHROMA ) ? cbHeight / SubHeightC             : cbHeight   if( Min( lfnstWidth, lfnstHeight ) >= 4 && sps_lfnst_enabled_flag = = 1 &&     CuPredMode[ chType ][ x0 ][ y0 ] = = MODE_INTRA &&     IntraSubPartitionsSplitType = = ISP_NO_SPLIT &&     ( !intra_mip_flag[ x0 ][ y0 ] | | Min( lfnstWidth, lfnstHeight ) >= 16 ) &&     tu_mts_idx[ x0 ][ y0 ] = = 0 && Max( cbWidth, cbHeight ) <= MaxTbSizeY ) {     if( LfnstDcOnly = = 0 && LfnstZeroOutSigCoeffFlag = = 1 )       lfnst_idx[ x0 ][ y0 ] ae(v)   }  } Table 2 below provides an example in syntax structure of VVC where the bit depth is specified for a coding tree unit by ctu_bit_depth[x0][y0] value. In this example, the bit depth may vary for different coding tree units in a slice or a frame and all coding trees have the same bit depth in a coding tree unit. In an example, in the syntax structure of VVC where the bit depth may be specified for a coding tree.

TABLE 2 Descriptor coding_tree_unit( ) {  xCtb = CtbAddrX << CtbLog2SizeY  ctu_bit_depth[ x0 ][ y0 ] ae(v)  yCtb = CtbAddrY << CtbLog2SizeY  if( sh_sao_luma_used_flag | | sh_sao_chroma_used_flag )   sao( CtbAddrX, CtbAddrY )  if( sh_alf_enabled_flag ){   alf_ctb_flag[ 0 ][ CtbAddrX ][ CtbAddrY ] ae(v)   if( alf_ctb_flag[ 0 ][ CtbAddrX ][ CtbAddrY ] ) {    if( sh_num_alf_aps_ids_luma > 0 )     alf_use_aps_flag ae(v)    if( alf_use_aps_flag ) {     if( sh_num_alf_aps_ids_luma > 1 )      alf_luma_prev_filter_idx ae(v)    } else     alf_luma_fixed_filter_idx ae(v)   }   if( sh_alf_cb_enabled_flag ) {    alf_ctb_flag[ 1 ][ CtbAddrX ][ CtbAddrY ] ae(v)    if( alf_ctb_flag[ 1 ][ CtbAddrX ][ CtbAddrY ]     && alf_chroma_num_alt_filters_minus1 > 0 )     alf_ctb_filter_alt_idx[ 0 ][ CtbAddrX ][ CtbAddrY ] ae(v)   }   if( sh_alf_cr_enabled_flag ) {    alf_ctb_flag[ 2 ][ CtbAddrX ][ CtbAddrY ] ae(v)    if( alf_ctb_flag[ 2 ][ CtbAddrX ][ CtbAddrY ]     && alf_chroma_num_alt_filters_minus1 > 0 )     alf_ctb_filter_alt_idx[ 1 ][ CtbAddrX ][ CtbAddrY ] ae(v)   }  }  if( sh_alf_cc_cb_enabled_flag )   alf_ctb_cc_cb_idc[ CtbAddrX ][ CtbAddrY ] ae(v)  if( sh_alf_cc_cr_enabled_flag )   alf_ctb_cc_cr_idc[ CtbAddrX ][ CtbAddrY ] ae(v)  if( sh_slice_type = = I && sps_qtbtt_dual_tree_intra_flag )   dual_tree_implicit_qt_split( xCtb, yCtb, CtbSizeY, 0 )  else   coding_tree( xCtb, yCtb, CtbSizeY, CtbSizeY, 1, 1, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0,       SINGLE_TREE, MODE_TYPE_ALL ) } In an example, in a syntax structure, a sequence level bit depth may be specified as an SPS parameter (e.g., sps_bitdepth_minus8) and for each block, the difference between the sequence level bit depth and block-level bit depth may be specified (e.g., cu_bit_depth[x0][y0] in TABLE 1, ctu_bit_depth[x0][y0] in TABLE 2).

FIG. 22 illustrates an exemplary decoder 2200 in which embodiments of the present disclosure may be implemented. Decoder 2200 decodes a bitstream 2202 into a decoded video sequence for display and/or some other form of consumption. Decoder 2200 may be implemented in video coding/decoding system 100 in FIG. 1 or any one of several different devices, including a desktop computer, laptop computer, tablet computer, smartphone, wearable device, television, camera, video gaming console, set-top box, or video streaming device. Decoder 2200 comprises an entropy decoding unit 2206, an inverse transform and quantization (iTR+iQ) unit 2208, a combiner 2210, one or more filters 2212, a buffer 2214, an inter prediction unit 2216, an intra prediction unit 2218, and a bit depth converter 2220. The entropy decoding unit 2206 may entropy decode the bitstream 2202. Inverse transform and quantization unit 2208 may inverse quantize and inverse transform the quantized transform coefficients to determine a decoded prediction error. Combiner 2210 may combine the decoded prediction error with a prediction block to form a decoded block. The prediction block may be generated by inter prediction unit 2218 or inter prediction unit 2216 as described above with respect to encoder 200 in FIG. 2 . Filter(s) 2212 may filter the decoded block using, for example, a deblocking filter and/or a sample-adaptive offset (SAO) filter. Buffer 2214 may store the decoded block for the prediction of one or more other blocks in the same and/or different picture of the video sequence in bitstream 2202. The filter(s) 2212 may output a first decoded block of a first bit depth 2222. The bit depth converter 2220 may convert the first decoded block of the first bit depth 2222 to a second decoded block of a second bit depth 2222. The second decoded block of the second bit depth 2224 may be the output of the exemplary decoder 2200 as shown in FIG. 22 . In the exemplary decoder 2200, excluding the bit depth converter 2220, all processes may be considered as a decoding process at the first bit depth 2226.

FIG. 23 illustrates an example of bit depth conversion from a first decoded block of a first bit depth (e.g., 2222 in FIG. 22 ) to a second decoded block of a second bit depth (e.g., 2224 in FIG. 22 ). FIG. 23 illustrates from a bitstream 2302 an indication of the first bit depth for a block 2304, a residual block of samples of the first bit depth, and a prediction parameter 2306 may be received by decoding at first bit depth process 2308. The decoding at first bit depth process 2308 may determine a first decoded block of first bit depth 2310 based on the indication of a first bit depth for a block 2304, the residual block of samples of the first bit depth, and the prediction parameter 2306. Bit depth converter 2312 may convert the first decoded block of first bit depth 2310 to a second decoded block of second bit depth 2314 by using an indication of second bit depth for sequence 2316 from bitstream 2302. Generally, the first bit depth is lower than the second bit depth. In an example, bit depth converter 2312 may up-sample the first decoded block of first bit depth 2310 to the second decoded block of second bit depth 2314. For example, the up-sampling may be left shifting of corresponding sample values or padding with ‘0’ based on the indication of a first bit depth for a block 2304 and the indication of second bit depth for sequence 2316.

FIG. 24 illustrates an exemplary decoder 2400 in which embodiments of the present disclosure may be implemented. Decoder 2400 decodes a bitstream 2402 into a decoded video sequence for display and/or some other form of consumption. Decoder 2400 may be implemented in video coding/decoding system 100 in FIG. 1 or any one of several different devices, including a desktop computer, laptop computer, tablet computer, smartphone, wearable device, television, camera, video gaming console, set-top box, or video streaming device. Decoder 2400 comprises an entropy decoding unit 2404, a bit depth conversion unit 2406, an inverse transform and quantization (iTR+iQ) unit 2408, a combiner 2410, one or more filters 2412, a buffer 2414, an inter prediction unit 2416, and an intra prediction unit 2418. The entropy decoding unit 2404 may entropy decode the bitstream 2402. The bit depth conversion unit 2406 may convert bit depth from first bit depth to second bit depth. The inverse transforms and quantization unit 2408 may inverse quantize and inverse transform the quantized transform coefficients to determine a decoded prediction error. Combiner 2410 may combine the decoded prediction error with a prediction block to form a decoded block. The prediction block may be generated by inter prediction unit 2418 or inter prediction unit 2416 as described above with respect to encoder 200 in FIG. 2 . Filter(s) 2412 may filter the decoded block using, for example, a deblocking filter and/or a sample-adaptive offset (SAO) filter. Buffer 2414 may store the decoded block for the prediction of one or more other blocks in the same and/or different picture of the video sequence in bitstream 2402. The filter(s) 2412 may output a second decoded block of second bit depth 2420. In the exemplary decoder 2400, excluding the entropy decoder 2404, and the bit depth converter 2406, all process may be considered as a decoding process at second bit depth 2422.

FIG. 25 illustrates an example of bit depth conversion from a first bit depth to a second bit depth of a residual block. FIG. 25 illustrates from a bitstream 2502 an indication of a first bit depth for a block 2504, a first residual block of samples of the first bit depth 2506, and an indication of second bit depth of a sequence 2508 may be received by a bit depth converter 2510. The bit depth converter 2510 may convert the first residual block of the first bit depth 2506 to a second residual block of a second bit depth 2512 by using an indication of second bit depth for sequence 2508 and the indication of a first bit depth for the block 2504. The indication of a first bit depth for the block 2504 may be implicitly signaled in the first residual block of samples of the first bit depth 2506. Generally, the first bit depth is lower than the second bit depth. In an example, the bit depth converter 2510 may up-sample the first residual block of the first bit depth 2506 to the second residual block of the second bit depth 2512. For example, the up-sampling may be left shifting of corresponding sample values or padding with ‘0’ based on the indication of a first bit depth for a block 2504 and the indication of second bit depth for sequence 2508. Using the second residual block of the second bit depth 2512, and prediction parameter(s) 2514 from the bitstream 2502, decoding at second bit depth unit 2516 may determine a decoded block of second bit depth 2518. The decoding at second bit depth unit 2516 may be an example of 2422 block as illustrated in FIG. 24 .

In an example embodiment, an encoder may generate for a block of samples, a first predicted block of samples. In an example the first predicted block of samples and a second predicted block of samples may be generated based on a prediction process.

The encoder may determine for the first predicted block of samples, a first selected bit depth based on a difference between the block of samples and the first predicted block of samples at each of a plurality of bit depths. In an example, the encoder may comprise determining, for the second predicted block of samples, a second selected bit depth based on a difference between the block of samples and the second predicted block of samples at each of the plurality of bit depths. In an example, the encoder may further comprise selecting, from a group of predicted blocks of samples comprising the first predicted block of samples at the first selected bit depth and the second predicted block of samples at the second selected bit depth, the first predicted block of sample at the first selected bit depth. In an example, the difference between the block of samples and the second predicted block of samples at each of a plurality of bit depths, may further based on a rate distortion optimization calculation. In an example, the encoder may further comprise determining, based on a prediction process, a plurality of predicted blocks of samples comprising the first predicted block of samples. In an example, the encoder may further comprise selecting, before the determining the first selected bit depth, the first predicted block of samples from among the plurality predicted blocks of samples. In an example, the selecting further may comprises selecting the first predicted block of samples, from among the plurality predicted blocks of samples, based on a difference between the block of samples and each of the plurality of predicted blocks of samples. In an example, the difference between the block of samples and each of the plurality of predicted blocks of samples, may be further based on a rate distortion optimization calculation. In an example, the prediction process may comprise an inter prediction coding scheme. In an example, the prediction process may comprise an intra prediction coding scheme. In an example, the difference between the block of samples and the first predicted block of samples at each of a plurality of bit depths may be based on a rate distortion optimization calculation. In an example, the first predicted block of samples may comprise both luminance and chrominance samples.

The encoder may encode into a bit stream for the block of samples, an indication of the first selected bit depth. In an example, the signaling may comprise signaling, in the bit stream, the indication of the first selected bit depth according to a syntax structure. In an example, the indication of the first selected bit depth in a syntax structure may comprise a coding tree unit syntax. In an example, the indication of the first selected bit depth in a syntax structure may comprise a coding unit syntax.

In an example embodiment, a decoder may receive, from a bitstream for a block, an indication of a first bit depth, a residual block of samples of the first bit depth, and a prediction parameter. The decoder may receive, from the bitstream for a sequence, an indication of a second bit depth.

The decoder may determine a first decoded block of samples of the first bit depth based on the first bit depth, the residual block of samples of the first bit depth, and the prediction parameter. The decoder may determine a second decoded block of samples of the second bit depth based on the first decoded block of samples of the first bit depth.

In an example embodiment, a decoder may receive, from a bitstream for a block, an indication of a first bit depth, a first residual block of samples of the first bit depth, and a prediction parameter. The decoder may receive, from the bitstream for a sequence, an indication of a second bit depth.

The decoder may determine a second residual block of samples of the second bit depth based on the first residual block of samples of the first bit depth. The decoder may determine a decoded block of samples at the second bit depth based on the second residual block of samples of the second bit depth and the prediction parameter.

In an example, the indication of the first bit depth in a syntax structure may comprise a coding tree unit syntax. In an example, the indication of the first bit depth in a syntax structure may comprise a coding unit syntax. In an example, the indication of the first bit depth implicitly may be signaled in first residual block of samples of the first bit depth. In an example, the prediction parameter may comprise an inter prediction coding scheme. In an example, the prediction parameter may comprise an intra prediction coding scheme. In an example, the second decoded block of samples of the second bit depth may comprise both luminance and chrominance samples.

Embodiments of the present disclosure may be implemented in hardware using analog and/or digital circuits, in software, through the execution of instructions by one or more general purpose or special-purpose processors, or as a combination of hardware and software. Consequently, embodiments of the disclosure may be implemented in the environment of a computer system or other processing system. An example of such a computer system 2600 is shown in FIG. 26 . Blocks depicted in the figures above, such as the blocks in FIGS. 1, 2, and 3 , may execute on one or more computer systems 2600. Furthermore, each of the steps of the flowcharts depicted in this disclosure may be implemented on one or more computer systems 2600.

Computer system 2600 includes one or more processors, such as processor 2604. Processor 2604 may be, for example, a special purpose processor, general purpose processor, microprocessor, or digital signal processor. Processor 2604 may be connected to a communication infrastructure 902 (for example, a bus or network). Computer system 2600 may also include a main memory 2606, such as random-access memory (RAM), and may also include a secondary memory 2608.

Secondary memory 2608 may include, for example, a hard disk drive 2610 and/or a removable storage drive 2612, representing a magnetic tape drive, an optical disk drive, or the like. Removable storage drive 2612 may read from and/or write to a removable storage unit 2616 in a well-known manner. Removable storage unit 2616 represents a magnetic tape, optical disk, or the like, which is read by and written to by removable storage drive 2612. As will be appreciated by persons skilled in the relevant art(s), removable storage unit 2616 includes a computer usable storage medium having stored therein computer software and/or data.

In alternative implementations, secondary memory 2608 may include other similar means for allowing computer programs or other instructions to be loaded into computer system 2600. Such means may include, for example, a removable storage unit 2618 and an interface 2614. Examples of such means may include a program cartridge and cartridge interface (such as that found in video game devices), a removable memory chip (such as an EPROM or PROM) and associated socket, a thumb drive and USB port, and other removable storage units 2618 and interfaces 2614 which allow software and data to be transferred from removable storage unit 2618 to computer system 2600.

Computer system 2600 may also include a communications interface 2620. Communications interface 2620 allows software and data to be transferred between computer system 2600 and external devices. Examples of communications interface 2620 may include a modem, a network interface (such as an Ethernet card), a communications port, etc. Software and data transferred via communications interface 2620 are in the form of signals which may be electronic, electromagnetic, optical, or other signals capable of being received by communications interface 2620. These signals are provided to communications interface 2620 via a communications path 2622. Communications path 2622 carries signals and may be implemented using wire or cable, fiber optics, a phone line, a cellular phone link, an RF link, and other communications channels.

As used herein, the terms “computer program medium” and “computer readable medium” are used to refer to tangible storage media, such as removable storage units 2616 and 2618 or a hard disk installed in hard disk drive 2610. These computer program products are means for providing software to computer system 2600. Computer programs (also called computer control logic) may be stored in main memory 2606 and/or secondary memory 2608. Computer programs may also be received via communications interface 2620. Such computer programs, when executed, enable the computer system 2600 to implement the present disclosure as discussed herein. In particular, the computer programs, when executed, enable processor 2604 to implement the processes of the present disclosure, such as any of the methods described herein. Accordingly, such computer programs represent controllers of the computer system 2600.

In an embodiment, features of the disclosure may be implemented in hardware using, for example, hardware components such as application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs) and gate arrays. Implementation of a hardware state machine to perform the functions described herein will also be apparent to persons skilled in the relevant art(s). 

What is claimed is:
 1. A method comprising: receiving, from a bitstream, an indication of a first bit depth for a block, a residual block of samples of the first bit depth, and a prediction parameter; receiving, from the bitstream, an indication of a second bit depth for a sequence comprising the block; determining the first bit depth as a difference between the second bit depth for the sequence and a value indicated by the indication of the first bit depth for the block; determining a first decoded block of samples of the first bit depth based on the determined first bit depth, the residual block of samples of the first bit depth, and the prediction parameter; and converting the first decoded block of samples to a second decoded block of samples of the second bit depth based on the first decoded block of samples of the first bit depth and the indication of the second bit depth for the sequence.
 2. The method of claim 1, wherein the indication of the first bit depth is received based on a syntax structure.
 3. The method of claim 2, wherein the syntax structure is a coding tree unit syntax structure.
 4. The method of claim 2, wherein the syntax structure is a coding unit syntax structure.
 5. The method of claim 1, wherein the prediction parameter comprises an inter prediction coding scheme, an intra prediction coding scheme, or an intra block copy prediction coding scheme.
 6. The method of claim 1, wherein the first decoded block of samples of the first bit depth comprises both luminance and chrominance samples.
 7. The method of claim 1, wherein the second decoded block of samples at the second bit depth comprises both luminance and chrominance samples.
 8. A decoder comprising: one or more processors; and memory storing instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the decoder to: receive, from a bitstream, an indication of a first bit depth for a block, a residual block of samples of the first bit depth, and a prediction parameter; receive, from the bitstream, an indication of a second bit depth for a sequence comprising the block; determine the first bit depth as a difference between the second bit depth for the sequence and a value indicated by the indication of the first bit depth for the block; determine a first decoded block of samples of the first bit depth based on the determined first bit depth, the residual block of samples of the first bit depth, and the prediction parameter; and convert the first decoded block of samples to a second decoded block of samples of the second bit depth based on the first decoded block of samples of the first bit depth and the indication of the second bit depth for the sequence.
 9. The decoder of claim 8, wherein the indication of the first bit depth is received based on a syntax structure.
 10. The decoder of claim 9, wherein the syntax structure is a coding tree unit syntax structure.
 11. The decoder of claim 9, wherein the syntax structure is a coding unit syntax structure.
 12. The decoder of claim 8, wherein the prediction parameter comprises an inter prediction coding scheme, an intra prediction coding scheme, or an intra block copy prediction coding scheme.
 13. The decoder of claim 8, wherein the first decoded block of samples of the first bit depth comprises both luminance and chrominance samples.
 14. The decoder of claim 8, wherein the second decoded block of samples at the second bit depth comprises both luminance and chrominance samples.
 15. A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing instructions that, when executed by one or more processors of a decoder, cause the decoder to: receive, from a bitstream, an indication of a first bit depth for a block, a residual block of samples of the first bit depth, and a prediction parameter; receive, from the bitstream, an indication of a second bit depth for a sequence comprising the block; determine the first bit depth as a difference between the second bit depth for the sequence and a value indicated by the indication of the first bit depth for the block; determine a first decoded block of samples of the first bit depth based on the determined first bit depth, the residual block of samples of the first bit depth, and the prediction parameter; and convert the first decoded block of samples to a second decoded block of samples of the second bit depth based on the first decoded block of samples of the first bit depth and the indication of the second bit depth for the sequence.
 16. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 15, wherein the indication of the first bit depth is received based on a syntax structure.
 17. The method of claim 1, wherein the first bit depth is less than or equal to the second bit depth.
 18. The method of claim 1, wherein the converting the first decoded block of samples to the second decoded block of samples comprises up-sampling the first decoded block of samples based on the indication of the first bit depth for the block and the indication of the second bit depth for the sequence.
 19. The decoder of claim 8, wherein the first bit depth is less than or equal to the second bit depth.
 20. The decoder of claim 8, wherein to convert the first decoded block of samples to the second decoded block of samples, the instructions, when executed by the one or more processors, further cause the decoder to up-sample the first decoded block of samples based on the indication of the first bit depth for the block and the indication of the second bit depth for the sequence. 